GREEN HOUSE EFFECT/ GLOBAL WARMING RESPONSE TO HIMALAYAN GLACIERS & RIVERS

Yogesh R. Kulkarni

M.Sc. II

Global warming

• Global warming - a gradual increase in planet-wide temperatures.

• The warming and cooling phases are common in the history of earth.

Global temp.anomaly from 1884 to 2006

. Global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C during the last century. (source: IPCC)

•latest IPCC report indicate that the global surface temperature will probably rise a further 1.1 to 6.4 °C during the twenty-first century.

The recent Green house effect mostly due to the anthropogenic activities.

The excessive emission of green house gases such CO2,SO2, CFC, Methane etc.

Green House effect

•Second largest body of ice in the world.• covering 17% of the mountain area.•In total Himalayan region, the glacial cover is about 1,12,767 sq. km. •In case of Himalayan ranges it encompasses about 18,067 glaciers with area of 35,110 sq. km of glacier, which store about 12,000 km3 of freshwater. •The higher regions of the Himalayas are snowbound throughout the year in spite of their proximity to the tropics.

Map of Himalaya Satellite image of Himalayan Glaciers

Himalayan Glaciers

Major glaciers & rivers in Himalayan ranges

• Siachen Glacier•Baltoro Glacier •Biafo Glacier •Gangotri Glacier•Yamunotri Glacier•Nubra Glacier •Hispur Glacier

•The Brahmaputra river•The Ganga river•The Indus river •The chenab river•The Ravi river•The Sutlej river

There is a dynamic interrelation between glaciers & rivers.

Any change in climate of Himalayan region simultaneously affect on both glaciers and rivers.

Impact of Global warming on Himalayan Glaciers

Satellite image of Gangotri glacier & Snout position from 1780 to 2004

• Glacial retreat: The Himalayan glaciers that are the sources of Asia's biggest rivers could disappear by 2035 if the temperatures rise continued with present day.

•In India, the Gangotri glacier, which supports one of India's largest river basins, is receding at an average rate of 23 meters per year. experts predict that the Ganges eventually will become a seasonal river, largely dependent on monsoon rains.

• Glacier shows the appearance of surging and calving.•Melting glaciers moves 100 times faster than normal rate.

•Change in Albedo effect.

•Change in Mass- Balance.

AX010 Glacier, Shorong Himal, Nepal.

Glacial Lake Formation & risk of G.L.O.F. (Glacial lake outburst flood):

Melted glaciers increase in water level of lake.

Formation of lake.

•Reactivation of thrusts.

•Landslides due to frost heave.

•Change in topography.

Retreat of the greater Himalayan glaciers compared to the global average (Erikson2009).

Summer Rupper, professor of geology at Brigham Young University in the United States, reports in the September issue of Quaternary Research that a small group of Himalayan glaciers grew by several kilometers 9,000 years ago.

Some abnormal behavior

•The warming causes shifting in climate pattern.

•Resulting in Increasing precipitation.

•More cloud & subsequently snow formation.

•Decrease in temperature.

•Changes in runoff:- Increasing runoff: Floods, rapid melting leads to flash floods.

Impact on Himalayan Rivers:

Decreasing runoff: Water stress, drought after the flood.

The Ganga, Indus, Brahmaputra and other rivers in northern India becoming seasonal rivers (IPCC 2007).

Change in river morphology: River channels, terraces, drainage pattern etc.

Sediment load in Kosi river, Bihar

Increase in sediment load in rivers Due to glacial melting:

Sediment deposition in Indus fan & Bengal fan

•Change in course of rivers.

•Failure of reservoirs.•Local subsidence & earthquake due to isostatic disequilibrium

Glacier melting in Himalayas may bring devastating floods in north Bihar plains of India. (Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi July 17, 2009)

THE COUNTRIES AT RISK

India , Pakistan , Afghanistan , The Central Asian Republics , China ,

Burma/Myanmar , Bangladesh , Nepal , Bhutan.

Other impacts associated with Himalayan rivers and glaciers

• Rise in Sea Level.

•Change in ecosystem.

•Major impact on habitat on humans & other biota.

•Impact on water & agriculture.

•Change in salinity of Ocean water.

Thank you.

So save the Glaciers….