Two glaciers in Nepal set to disappear due to rising temperatures: Research

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Kathmandu, August 3: Two glaciers in Nepal, the Yala Glacier of Langtang Himal in central Nepal and the AX010 Glacier of Shorong Himal in the Khumbu region will inevitably disappear due to rising temperatures, a research conducted by Japan’s Nagoya University has revealed.

Both glaciers have shrunk at an accelerated rate in the past ten years.

According to Wednesday’s Republica Daily, the Yala Glacier shrank annually by 0. 8 meters and AX010 Glacier by 0.81 meters respectively in the 2000s, as compared to 0.68 and 0.72 meters of shrinkage per year between 1970 and 1990, the research said.

“If the trend since the 1990s continues for the Yala and AX010 glaciers, the disappearance of these glaciers is inevitable because they are about to lose their accumulation areas, thus, no snow supply is expected for these glaciers,” Xinhua quoted the research, as saying.

Writing for the National Academy of Sciences journal, researchers Koji Fujita and Takayuki Nuimura also found that while the shrinking of glaciers accelerated in humid environments, as opposed to arid environments.

The shrinking of Rikha Samba Glacier located in the Kaligandaki Hidden Valley slowed from 0.57 meters per year between 1970 and 1990 to 0.48 meters per year in the 2000s.

“A comparison of the mass balance results and annual precipitation reveals that glacier wastage has been accelerated in humid environments but suppressed in an arid environment,” the research said.

The research also found that both environment and altitude appeared to play a role in the lifespan of glaciers.

Rikha Samba is located at an altitude of 5,700 meters, where collection of snowfall compensated for the glacier’s melting.

The Yala and AX010 glaciers, on the other hand, are located at lower altitudes of 5,400 meters and 5,200 meters respectively. (ANI)