DO YOU KNOW IMPORTANCE AND STATE OF GLACIER IN NEPAL

 

Glacier -a slowely moving mass or river of ice formed by the deposition and densification of snow on mountain or near the poles.

Glacier are an important storage of fresh water in world . Nowdays, global climate change has an significant impact on the high mountain environment  because of their acessibility to melting condition and  glacier retreat(glacier melting)  is one of impact of climate change.

Nepal is a country located between latitudes of 26^o12^l to 30^o27^l north and between longitudes of 80^o 4^l to 88^o 12^l east having diverse environmental condition derive from its magnificient  topography. There is five ecological region in Nepal i.e Terai,Siwalik, Middle Mountain ,High Mountain and High Himalayas. High Himalayas range from 4000m to above 8000m where the climate is alpine and snowline lies at 5000m in the east and 4000m in the west.

 In Himalayas , glaciers formed from the accumulation of slowely moving mass or river of ice and densification of snow on mountain. There are about 3808 glacier and 2323 lake above 3500m above  sea level.Shorong Himal, Khumbu Region ,Langtang ,Kanchenjung etc are some regions where glacier is found in Nepal. The world’s largest river are generally made from glacier which is reserviour of fresh water. The river originated from these glaciers are main source of water  supply of millions of people during dry season .

Nowdays,  due to global warming ,retreating of glaciers, elimination of small glaciers, formation of new and enlarging  glacial lake  resulting  in Himalayan zone  . Climate change due to increase of global warming cause global threat to humanity and environment of the world. Himalayan zone is very much sensitive to changing in temperature and precipitation  which is caused by climate change. Rising in temperature is found to be more pronounced in higher region of Nepal as compared to lower region .Precipitation is  another one of the most important climatic event. 

Nepal get both summer and winter precipitation ,being located in northern  area. It play a major role in the mass balance of glacier. Thesedays ,  imbalance rising in temperature and sudden rainfall of great intensity are  the factor that cause retreat of some glaciers.so, glacier are excellent indicator of climate change  and to study the impact of global warming.

The glacier in much of the himalayan region shows sign of shrinking ,thining and retreating and formation of new glacial lake.

 khumbu glacier located in khumbu region is largest debries covered glacier of Nepal found between Mount Everest and Lhoste. In 1995 ground survey of the khumbu  glacier as compared to 1978 was done . According to survey ,the surface area of glacier lowered about 10m from ablation area and slowely moving ice flow was also detected. If ablation condition remain unchanged then shrinkage of glacier may accelerate. Another study between 1970s to 1989, majority of glacier found in khumbu region were found to have retreated in the range of 30 to 60 m. 

Another example of retreat of glacier was glacier AX01O  found in Shorong himal. In study between 1978 to 1989 retreat of glacier was 30m , which is equivalent to 12 m thining of glacier surface. According to 1997 survey , the retreat  of glacier after 1989 had been larger than between 1978-1989. This predicts that the shirinking pattern to continue and speed up in the future even if the climate condition remain unchanged. There is various impact of glacier retreat in Nepal like river discharge, glacier  lakes and outbrust floods (GLOFs), scarcity of fresh water  supply in future, Economic impact, Health, Agriculture and Biodiversity and Wildlife impact .

Hence, it is estimated that the state of  glacier retreat in Nepal is  increasing due to global climate change and  is most sensitive and prone to melting if the specific climatic factor is not balanced.

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