2023-06-20 02:00:10
The Siachen Glacier, source of the Indus River (Pakistan), in October 2019. BENEDICTE VAN DER MAAR / HANS LUCAS
The “roof of the world” is in danger. Up to 80% of glaciers in the Himalayas and Hindu Kush could melt by the end of the century as a result of the climate crisis, a pace that has accelerated sharply over the past decade . These changes ” unprecedented ” et “largely irreversible” threaten two billion people and exacerbate species decline. These are the very worrying conclusions of a vast scientific study published Tuesday, June 20 by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (Icimod), an intergovernmental organization based in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Covering more than 4.2 million square kilometers from Afghanistan to Burma, the Hindu-Kush-Himalaya (HKH) mountainous region is referred to as “third pole” by scientists because of its gigantic ice reserves. It is home to the highest peaks in the world, such as Everest and K2, and feeds twelve major rivers in sixteen Asian countries, from the Ganges to the Mekong via the Indus or the Yellow River, along which immense population pools.
The study, written by 35 scientists from 12 countries, details the very rapid upheavals to which the cryosphere of this region is subject – like the rest of the world. Glaciers could lose between 55% and 75% of their current volume in 2100 compared to 2015, if the planet stays on the same greenhouse gas emissions trajectory that takes us towards a global warming of almost 3°C . In a +4°C world, 80% of white giants could disappear. The figure is reduced to between 30% and 50% if the rise in the thermometer is limited to between + 1.5°C and 2°C, which is the objectives of the Paris climate agreement. “It’s mind-boggling. Even 50% less is a colossal loss, unprecedented on geological time scales”reacts Philippus Wester, associate researcher on climate and water at Icimod, who coordinated the report.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers At least half of the world’s glaciers are doomed by climate change
This work paints a slightly more serious panorama than the first assessment carried out by Icimod in 2019, and than the data from the last report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the synthesis of which was published in March. The new study measures an acceleration of ice loss in the massif, by 65% over the last decade compared to the previous one. The most severe melting is observed east of the Hindu-Kush-Himalayas, particularly in southeastern Tibet. To the west of the Himalayas, the Karakoram region, which was thought to have been spared, now shows negative mass balances, with melting that exceeds snowfall. Only the west of the Kunlun region maintains a relatively balanced balance sheet.
You have 57.29% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.
#vast #majority #Himalayan #glaciers #disappear #climate #change