Glaciers in High Mountain Asia — a region encompassing the Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding mountain ranges — are shrinking rapidly, endangering water resources for millions of people, suggests a new study.
Glaciers in High Mountain Asia — a region encompassing the Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding mountain ranges — are shrinking rapidly, endangering water resources for millions of people, suggests a new study.
Using satellite data from NASA’s GRACE missions, results show that these extensive glacier systems, often called the “water towers of Asia,” experienced significant losses in mass between 2002 and 2023. These findings reveal that if the extreme conditions that led to this decline continue, enhanced glacier melt could intensify short-term flood risks and substantially reduce long-term meltwater availability. The researchers say the findings underscore the need for reduced greenhouse gas emissions to stave off glacier melt and preserve a larger fraction of the region’s cryospheric water storage.
Because communities in the area often rely on the glacier’s large meltwater stores for hydropower generation, renewable energy and large-scale irrigation systems, any changes in glacier size will have direct implications for local water security, agriculture and natural hazard management, said Jaydeo Dharpure, lead author of the study and a former postdoctoral research associate at the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center at The Ohio State University.
Read more at: Ohio State University
Photo Credit: ewirz via Pixabay
