Himalayan glaciers could lose 75% of their volume by 2100 – 06/20/2023 – Environment

Glaciers in Asia’s Hindu Kush Himalayas could lose up to 75% of their volume by the end of the century due to global warming, causing dangerous flooding and water shortages for the 240 million people who live in the mountainous region, according to a new report. report.

An international team of scientists has pointed out that ice loss in the region, which is home to the famous peaks of Everest and K2, is accelerating. During the 2010s, glaciers shed ice up to 65% faster than in the previous decade, according to an assessment by the Kathmandu-based International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), an intergovernmental scientific authority in the region.

“We are losing glaciers and will lose them in a hundred years,” said Philippus Wester, an environmental scientist and member of ICIMOD, who was the lead author of the report.

The Hindu Kush Himalayas stretch for 3,500 km across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.

With 1.5°C or 2°C warming above pre-industrial temperatures, glaciers across the region will lose 30% to 50% of their volume by 2100, the report said.

But where glaciers melt most depends on location. At 3°C ​​of warming — what the world is on track to achieve under current climate policies — glaciers in the eastern Himalayas, which include Nepal and Bhutan, will lose up to 75% of their ice. At 4°C of warming, this rises to 80%.