University of Leeds University in the UK recorded that due to global warming, the melting speed of the Himalayan glaciers increased significantly, which threatens the sustainable water supply of millions of people. This is reported in an article published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Researchers reconstructed the size and area of 14,798 Himalayan glaciers during the small glacial period, 400-700 years ago. The researchers calculated that since that time, the glaciers lost about 40 percent of their area, which decreased from 28 thousand to about 19.6 thousand square kilometers to date. During this period, they lost 390-586 thousand cubic kilometers of ice. This is equivalent to all ice contained in the Alps, in the Caucasus and in Scandinavia combined.
Himalayan glaciers lose ice at a speed, which at least ten times higher than the average melting speed over the past century. In this case, the acceleration occurred mainly in the past few decades. Water, which has already been released as a result of the disappearance of glaciers, raised the sea level around the world by 0.92-1.38 millimeters.
The acceleration of the Tayania of the Himalayan glaciers has serious consequences for hundreds of millions of people who depend on the main river systems of Asia – Brahmaputra, Ganges and Inde. Himalayan glaciers lose weight faster in the eastern regions, including East Nepal and Bhutan. Also, melting contributes to the lakes at the mouth of glaciers and the natural garbage on the surface of the ice.