Himalayas warmest on record: researchers

Himalayas warmest on record: researchers

What has happened?

Recent decades have been the wettest and warmest on record in the Himalayas, say researchers who are alarmed that a “warming signature” has led to an overall rise in mercury level

‘Global warming impacting glaciers’

Rising temperatures in western Himalayas:They warn that the impact of global warming is clearly evident over the northwestern Himalayas in the form of rising temperatures in the last 25 years.

Data

The maximum, minimum and mean temperatures in the Himalayas saw a total increase of 0.9 degree, 0.19 degree and 0.65 degree, respectively, over a quarter of a century.

Not uniform

However, the warming was not consistent across the Himalayas

Greater Himalayas sees the highest rise in temperatures:The highest rise in mean temperature was seen in the Greater Himalayas at 0.87 degree Celsius (1991-2015), followed by the Karakoram Himalayas.

Rise in mercury related with glacier retreat

The rise in mercury is in agreement with the comparatively higher rate of glacier retreat in the Greater Himalayas than in the Karakoram Himalayas

Study titled: “Recent Wintertime Climatic Variability Over the North West Himalayan Cryosphere”

By SASE: Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE), a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory based in Chandigarh