Even if warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels, as called for by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its landmark 2018 report, the mountains will lose more than a third of their ice, largely held in glaciers, Molden said. We seriously need to keep that window open," Koziell said. Many of these are retreating as a result of climate change. In this picture you can see the bowl-shaped valley in a glacial valley in Wyoming where an ancient glacier forced its way through the landscape. Photography for this article was supported in part by the South Asian Journalists Association. But with new technology and more data becoming available over the last five years, the scientists found circumstances worse than they expected, Wester said. The Kutiah Glacier in Pakistan holds the record for the fastest glacial surge. This place may have the highest density of great white sharks, Controversial oil drilling paused in Namibian wilderness, Dolphin moms use 'baby talk' with their calves, Nevada is crawling with swarms of smelly 'Mormon crickets'. The winters are milder, for which most seem grateful. Linemen connect a house to the grid in Saboo, Ladakh. KfW Development Bank is supporting the development of this early warning system. : Glaciers of Pakistan. A local scientist, Sitara Parveen, assistant professor of geography at Fatima Jinnah Girls Degree College, who studies glacial melt and its local impact, recently led NPR to that glacier. ", Women and girls wash dishes at a communal tap in the village of Passu, with the snow-capped Karakoram mountains in the background. ", First published on June 22, 2023 / 11:28 AM. Glaciers in the region melted faster between 2010 and 2019 than in the previous decade. But once past peak water, supplies will eventually dwindle. The monarch butterflys spots may be its superpower, Earth's shifting magnetic poles don't cause climate change, This ancient society tried to stop El Niowith child sacrifice. WebCategory. According to National Water Policy 2018, the per capita surface water availability has declined from 5,260 cubic meters per year in 1951 to around 1,000 cubic meters in 2016 and this quantity was likely to further drop to about 860 cubic meters in next few years, marking our transition from a water stressed to a water scarce country. "If they stopped all air pollution, you'd see the impacts tomorrow," he said. The study said that 200 glacier lakes across these mountains are deemed dangerous and the region could see a significant spike in glacial lake outburst floods by the end of the century. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. But where glaciers will melt most depends on location. Already it was clear that it was under strain. Dams and reservoirs provide Pakistan with only 30 days supply in a drought; the Indus aquifer alone has enough water for three years, Abbas calculates. hide caption. Diaa Hadid/NPR The next morning I took tea with a landowner and former federal minister, then spoke with the manager of a 6,000-acre mango farm, where servants were watering a rose garden in the desert. Their research was funded in part by the federal governments of several countries in the region, which are scrambling to understand how climate change is affecting their natural resources and how their citizens might adapt. The topography of the Karakoram range is characterized by long slopes, craggy peaks, and Shamim Banno, 55, walks up the Harchi Valley after she finished milking her cow. The plane will not fly much higher than the mountain peaks it passes. He didnt care about climate change. In Wagah, Punjab, visitors pose with soldiers following the elaborate daily closing ceremony on the border with India. Both phenomena, for millennia the preserve of the gods, are now in the hands of humans too. Ibrahim said the provincial climate change policy 2016, range land policy, and REDD plus strategy have been implemented in the province. Shishper, a 9-mile-long, black glacier, is edging toward a wood-and-rope bridge that government-contracted workers are racing to dismantle. The HKH region spans roughly 2,175 miles, from Afghanistan to Myanmar, and is home to the highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest. Melting of glaciers will cause dangerous flooding and water shortages for nearly 2 billion people who live downstream of rivers that originate in the Himalayas, report Just from two decades ago to the last decade, theres been quite big changes. Two power plants in Hassanabad were also reportedly swept away by the flood. Copyright 2023. Besides 2,253 mighty, medium and small glaciers, including Baltoro (63km), Biafo (67km), Batura (57km) found in Gilgit Baltistan, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwas Upper Chitral district was blessed with around 500 glaciers especially at Trichmir mountains ranges providing freshwater to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh provinces through rivers Swat, Panjokra, Kabul and Indus throughout the year. While the measuring stations have had to be supervised in person until now, the new stations will be able to transfer data automatically. Unlike the European Alps and North Americas Rocky Mountains, the region lacks a long historical record of field measurements that reveal whether glaciers are growing or shrinking. The future of total rainfall in the Himalayan region is uncertain, but there has been a clear increase in extreme rains. So with climate change now, the monsoon, that is, of course, mainly responsible for the flooding - you know, we have on top of that now accelerated glacial melt. Can you find them? The village relies on a nearby glacier also called Passu to water their fields, pastures and orchards. Global Change Research Program: Sea Repeat photography and aerial / satellite photo analysis provide evidence of glacier loss in terms of shape and area. Shamim Banno, 55, walks up the Harchi Valley after she finished milking her cow. 0 Top 10 Famous Glaciers in Pakistan April 17, 2023 0 Comment Pakistan is blessed with some of the worlds most beautiful and breathtaking natural landscapes, But as the glaciers behave more erratically surging, shrinking and flooding some of the canals have run dry. As it advanced, it blocked a river by the nearby Muchuhar glacier. Unauthorized use is prohibited. This poison is shortening our lives, Kumar said. 30% to 50% of glacial ice will be lost by 2100 at 1.5C of warming. This map shows the threats it faces. Some families have migrated away from the once prosperous village.Right: At his farm in Sindh, Abdul Qadir Palari makes the blue for jeans from indigo. And usually, they are separated. So these glaciers are sitting in the Hindu Kush, Karakoram, Himalaya in northern Pakistan and, you know, in a yearly rhythm increase in volume during the winter months, mainly, and then, you know, lose ice mass during the snowmelt season. Glaciers advance, local people said, because theyre accumulating mass. "This is a lot, this is alarming," Wester told CBS News. Children collect drinking water from a filtration plant on the shores of Manchhar Lake, Sindh. But a thriving black market leads to dire shortages for the poor. Melting glaciers are destabilizing the landscape and raising the risks of hazards like floods and landslides. Reinsurance companies which cover policies for insurers have hiked their rates as much as 50% this year, report says. The long, westward-flowing stretch in the north lies in the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, and both new countries wanted all of that. He would never let his grandchildren do so, he saidits far too polluted. So you have different peaks now of the meltwater flow but also then rainfall, you know, that feeds into the river systems. This has far-reaching consequences. Analysts in both countries agree that the canals, by providing copious water at artificially low cost, encourage waste. The barrage at Sukkur, visible in the distance, was built during colonial times. The policy disclosed that the minimum water requirement to avoid food and health implications of water scarcity was 1,000 cubic meters per capita per year and the situation underlined the need for rapid development and management of the countrys water resources especially completion of construction of dams of Mohmand and Diamir Bhasha to conserve the precious commodities for future generation. Melting glaciers also present a more urgent threat. Both men lamented the newly erratic weather as they cracked open bottles of Evian. Did you know? Schoolchildren in the village of Gya, Ladakh, cross a glacial stream that feeds the Indus. June 22, 2023 / 11:28 AM They spoke of corrupt or inefficient engineering projects, inequitable water sharing, and ecosystems destroyed in the name of profit. I was astonished by how few people I met in northern Pakistan knew what was melting their glaciers or blamed the rest of the world. hide caption. Here's what you should know. The town of Karimabad, Pakistan, is nestled near the Ultar glacier. Its too early in the spring, said Umesh Haritashya, a glaciologist at the University of Dayton. Shamim Banno, a 55-year-old farmer, was working her potato fields when a flood rushed by. Theice on Greenlandapproaches two miles (3.2 kilometers) in thickness in some places and is so heavy that some of the land has been compressed so much that it is way below sea level. White areas show glaciers and ice sheets around the world. The torrential rainin some places, a years worth in a few hourscaused the river to breach its banks throughout its southern course. Publications about glaciers and ice caps: Below is a list of Frequently Asked Questions associated with glaciers and ice caps. Almost 10 percent of the world's land mass is currently covered with glaciers, mostly in places like Greenland and Antarctica. According to various studies, with 7250 discovered glaciers, no country on earth outside the polar region has more glacial ice than Pakistan. This map shows the threats it faces.). Then, for example, you know, you find wetlands in high altitudes that are very important as a freshwater resource for animals. "The direction is pretty clear on where we are going, and that's the alarming news.". Since the Ghulam Muhammad Barrage was constructed in 1955, the Indus has flowed down to the sea only weakly, fitfully; instead, boosted by climate change, the sea has risen to meet the river, rendering it salty far upstream. The Passu glacier, on the Karakoram highway that connects Pakistan to China, is shrinking, endangering the villages that rely on its melt. But we can strategically distribute them well throughout the area to collect as much information as possible about glaciers, water levels and weather.. Workers build stone walls along parts of the riverbank in Harchi Valley, hoping that will prevent future glacial floods from washing away more land. Advertisement Himalayan Glacier Loss Speeding Up, New Report Finds Glaciers in the region melted faster between 2010 and 2019 than in the previous decade. KAMP: So Pakistan - you mentioned that already earlier - has over 7,200 glaciers. But water diversions upstream have caused it to stagnate, while agricultural runoff draining into the lake has killed most fish and made the water too polluted to drink without treatment. Were losing the glaciers, and were losing them in 100 years time, said Philippus Wester, an environmental scientist and ICIMOD fellow who was the lead author of the report. And bodies of soil on overgrazed pastures and depleted forests along the course of the river cannot absorb as much water as intact ecosystems. I still remember a number of years ago when I was a student, I used to go to the famous glacial lake, Saiful Muluk, now and then. In August 2010, when the Indus was already full of summer meltwater, it was hit by a freak monsoon. The glacier provides superb views ofK2, th Abruzzi GlacierTheAbruzzi Glacieris aglaciernorth of theBaltoro Kangripeak inGilgit-Baltistan,Pakistan. In Karachi, on the Arabian Sea, a driver drains water piped from the Indus into his trucklegally, in this case. Water shortages on both sides of the border are at crisis levels. We grow paddy in the desert! exclaimed Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, a member of Pakistans National Climate Change Council. Once ice melts in these regions, its very difficult to put it back to its frozen form, said Pam Pearson, director of the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative, who was not involved with the report. Diaa Hadid/NPR Glacier loss was as much as 65% faster in 2010s compared with 2000s. Melting of glaciers will cause dangerous flooding and water shortages for nearly 2 billion people who live downstream of rivers that originate in the Himalayas, report says. So that's also important. A truck delivers cotton to a textile factory in Sindh. Over the past And the rising temperatures threaten the glaciers in the Himalayan-Karakoram-Hindu-Kush region. Officials on the Indian side asserted their power immediately in spring 1948, shutting the gates of the headworks. These "rivers" of ice are tremendously heavy, and if they are on land that has a downhill slope the whole ice patch starts to slowly grind its way downhill. Pakistan Today. Many lakes, such as the Great Lakes, and valleys have been carved out by ancient glaciers. Thats truebut as I learned later from glacial geologist Bethan Davies at Royal Holloway in London, a glacier also can slide downhill like a childs sled because it has started to melt and come unstuck. The surprising element was the timing. Frogs and other amphibians are also at high risk. The challenge is made infinitely more complex because the Indus and five of its tributaries are shared by India and Pakistan, neighbors and enemies since 1947, while China controls the headwaters. May 31, 2022 Pakistan, a wonderful country filled with humongous glaciers, vast plains, famous deserts, and breathtaking landscapes, is considered one of the worlds top tourist destinations. hide caption. Shah showed me a draft. Dr. Tedesco also praised the new reports focus on the societal and ecological implications of fast-melting glaciers. These facilities have been recording temperatures, water levels, rainfall and flow rates since the late 1960s, before transmitting the data to the Head Office in Lahore. A flooding from the nearby #Shisper glacier is battering the village, as locals watch helplessly. "We need the world to wake up," he said, "and shift their political lethargy on climate change and start taking action. At 3 degrees Celsius of warming what the world is roughly on track for under current climate policies glaciers in the Eastern Himalayas, which includes Nepal and Bhutan, will lose up to 75 percent of their ice. Scientists can use the collected data to better understand how the glaciers shift and how their changes affect the Indus. We advocate for effective and principled humanitarian action by all, for all. Kinjhar Lake, an Indus-fed reservoir 60 miles away, is their nearest source. The Indus had changed out of all recognition from the mighty river described by British colonial officials. The ICIMOD report lays out three potential scenarios for the glaciers of the HKH: If there is a 1.5-2 degree Celsius increase in the Earth's average temperature above pre-industrial levels, the glaciers will lose 30% to 50% of their ice volume by 2100.
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