New Delhi: Rising temperatures is responsible for melting of Himalayan glaciers and the process has doubled since start of 21st century, according to a study published.
Researchers said the analysis, spanning 40 years of satellite observations across India, China, Nepal and Bhutan, indicates that climate change is eating the Himalayan glaciers.
The study, published in the journal Science Advances in June 2019, shows that glaciers have been losing the equivalent of more than a vertical foot and half of ice each year since 2000 — double the amount of melting that took place from 1975 to 2000.
Temperatures vary from place to place, but from 2000 to 2016 they have averaged one degree Celsius higher than those from 1975 to 2000, they said.
Researchers found that from 1975 to 2000, glaciers across the region lost an average of about 0.25 metres of ice each year due to rise in temperature.
They noted that Asian nations are burning ever-greater loads of fossil fuels and biomass, sending soot into the sky. This eventually lands on snowy glacier surfaces where it absorbs solar energy and hastens melting, the researchers said.
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