Kashmir's main glacier ‘melting at alarming speed’
SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) – Indian Kashmir’s biggest glacier, which feeds the region’s main river, is melting faster than other Himalayas glaciers, threatening the water supply of tens of thousands of people, a new report warned on Monday. SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) – Indian Kashmir’s biggest glacier, which feeds the region’s main river, is melting faster than other Himalayas glaciers, threatening the water supply of tens of thousands of people, a new report warned on Monday. Experts say rising temperatures are rapidly shrinking Himalayan glaciers, underscoring the effects of climate change that has caused temperatures in the mountainous region to rise by about 1.1 degrees Celsius in the past 100 years. The biggest glacier in Indian Kashmir, the Kolahoi glacier spread over just a little above 11 sq km (4.25 sq mile), has shrunk 2.63 sq km in the past three decades, a new study said. “Kolahoi glacier is shrinking 0.08 square kilometers a year, which is an alarming speed,” said the study, presented at a workshop on “Climate Change, Glacial Retreat and Livelihoods,” in Srinagar, Indian Kashmir’s summer capital. The three year-long study was led by glaciologist Shakil Ramsoo, assistant professor in the department of geology at the University of Kashmir. The Kolahoi glacier is the main source of water for Kashmir’s biggest river, the Jhelum, and its many streams and lakes. …
