Researchers from the World Meteorological Organization have discovered a significant decrease in both the mass and water reserves of glaciers in the Central Asian region. The data analysis conducted by scientists covers the last five years and is compared with information collected between 1991 and 2020.
According to experts' forecasts, the inflow of water into the reservoirs of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Afghanistan has significantly decreased. As a result, Central Asia has been placed on the list of global regions where river runoff is below or significantly below the established norm.
The most critical situation is observed in the Aral Sea area, which includes the key river systems of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya. Scientists are particularly concerned about the state of the region's mountain glaciers, as they are losing more ice than they are gaining through accumulation.
Central Asia is part of a group of three territories demonstrating the largest ice losses over the entire observation period. According to calculations, global glacial water losses reached approximately 1,400 gigatons between 2023 and 2025. Over the past five years, mountain glaciers have lost 6.2 percent of their mass above sea level.
It is important to note that more than half of the total runoff in the basins of Central Asian rivers is formed by the melting of snow and ice. It was previously noted that Kyrgyzstan lost almost 90 percent of its forest areas over a fifty-year period, which led to an exacerbation of problems with water resources, landslides, and avalanches.