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Study shows significant retreat of 23 major glaciers in Deva Bhumi due to climate change
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Aaj Tak
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Study shows significant retreat of 23 major glaciers in Deva Bhumi due to climate change

A new scientific study has revealed a serious problem related to climate change and environmental changes in the Deva Bhumi region, raising concerns among scientists and ecologists. According to this new scientific review, glaciers in the central Himalayas of India are rapidly retreating.

This review was published in the journal Discover Geoscience on September 15, 2026, by researchers from UPES, Dehradun, and the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology. The study compared publications, field surveys, satellite imagery, DEMs, and other available data from 1990 to 2024.

The review recorded a cumulative recession of 25,621.01 meters for 23 major glaciers. During the study, some inconsistencies in the data were noted: one part of the research indicates an average retreat rate of 23.23 meters per year, while the summary table later presents an arithmetic mean of 24.63 meters per year.

The Khatling Glacier in Tehri Garhwal is one of the fastest retreating, showing an average retreat rate of about 88 meters per year between 1965 and 2014. Over this period, it retreated by approximately 4.34 km, leading to the fragmentation of the glacier into smaller parts. Other recorded rates include 45.8 m/year for Pindari during 2000–2018, 37.8 m/year for Milam during 1972–2018, about 22 m/year for Gangotri during 1935–2004, 6.8 m/year for Chorabari, and 3.7 m/year for Bhagirathi.

Different figures were obtained for Satopanth in various studies; Table 2 of the review indicates a rate of 6.5 m/year for the period 1962–2020.

According to the study, the rate of glacial retreat depends not only on temperature. The presence of supraglacial debris, i.e., rock deposits on the ice surface, provides an insulating function on many glaciers, slowing down surface melting. This is why debris-covered glaciers usually show a slower frontal retreat compared to clean glaciers. Altitude, slope, shape, and orientation of the glacier are also important. The review mentions that south-facing glaciers experienced a reduction of approximately 18%.

In Milam Glacier, a retreat of about 480 meters was recorded between 2004 and 2014, and the review reports the formation of about 47 glacial lakes in front of it. The average retreat rate for lake-terminating glaciers was about 34.9 m/year, while for land-terminating glaciers, it was about 22.5 m/year. This difference indicates the role of calving and the interaction of ice with water in lake-terminating glaciers. However, the study did not determine the GLOF risk for any specific village.

Manish Mehta, a senior scientist at the Wadia Institute, reported that in the Upper Akalnanda basin in Uttarakhand, the glacial cover area decreased by 4.2 ± 2.9% between 1994 and 2020. In the same area, the snout retreat rate increased from approximately 9.3 m/year to 13.3 m/year. After 1994, the snow line rose by about 100 meters higher, and the area of glaciers smaller than 0.5 square kilometers decreased by 15%. The review also emphasizes that after 2000, the rates of retreat and ELA rise accelerated in many glaciers, although the response of different glaciers varies significantly.

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Greenland and Antarctica lost over 12 trillion tons of ice due to global warming
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noticiasaominuto.com

Greenland and Antarctica lost over 12 trillion tons of ice due to global warming

Global warming is accelerating the melting of the planet's two largest ice masses, with most of this melt not caused by rising air temperatures, but rather by the increase in water temperature reaching the ice layers as glaciers advance into the oceans.

Eric Rignot, an ice specialist from the University of California and co-author of the study, warned that the rapid melting of polar ice sheets and the consequent rise in global sea levels will intensify the vulnerability of coastal areas.

All the melted ice is equivalent to approximately three quadrillion liters of water, which has contributed to a rise in the average sea level of about 3.1 centimeters since 1979, adding to other climatic factors that raise the oceans, as detailed in the report.

Ines Otosaka, an ice specialist from the University of Northumbria in the UK and lead author of the study, emphasized that although 3.1 centimeters may seem small, every centimeter of rise can result in annual flooding for between two and three million people.

Otosaka also reported that the Jakobshavn glacier, located in Greenland, is currently retreating at a rate of 50 meters per day.

Previously, an international collaboration of polar scientists, led by the European Space Agency, had monitored the melting of ice sheets since the 1990s using European satellite data.

With the inclusion of NASA satellites, researchers were able to map the ice volumes in Antarctica since 1979 and in Greenland since 1972. The study revealed that in the 1970s, 1980s, and up to the mid-1990s, the ice sheets showed relative stability, but the melting began to intensify drastically during the 2010s, according to Ines Otosaka.

Andrew Shepherd, also from the University of Northumbria and co-author, stressed that this development is worrying because it indicates that climate changes have a decades-long lag relative to global warming, suggesting they will persist longer even if the planet's warming is halted.

The scientists observed that the most notable changes were driven by 'dynamic processes,' phenomena more sudden and active than the gradual melting caused by the air. David Holland, an ice specialist from New York University, expressed his concern about this aspect, as most of the ice loss has a dynamic nature, which would be expected in a collapse scenario due to ice sheet instability.

To conduct this study, the international team employed 45 independent surveys and 27 different satellites.

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