Melting Himalayan glaciers blame Pakistan for catastrophic floods

(ORDO NEWS) — More than 1,000 people have died in catastrophic floods that have inundated cities in several parts of the country. It turns out that the whole thing is in the melting Himalayas.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT, Indore) recorded extreme melting of Himalayan glaciers due to intense summers and heat waves earlier this year.

Scientists have found that extreme heat has accelerated the prolonged melting of glaciers, increasing the flow of water from the Himalayas into Pakistan.

Glaciers are made up of layers of compressed snow that move or “flow” under the force of gravity. The length of a glacier can extend hundreds of kilometers from its high mountain headwaters, and the end can advance or recede depending on the accumulation or melting of snow.

However, this is not only observed in the Himalayas. Similar phenomena were observed in the European Alps.

The most disturbing thing about the Himalayas is that they store the largest reserves of frozen fresh water, not counting the poles of the planet.

A study by IIT Indore experts in 2021 found that glacier melt is an important component in the region, and if it continues, then one day the water supply may completely stop.

So far, melting glaciers are meeting the water needs of more than a billion people in the region, but intense melting could lead to future water shortages.

Last year, researchers estimated that glaciers had lost about 40 percent of their area, shrinking from 28,000 square kilometers to about 19,600 square kilometers in 2021. They also lost 390 cubic kilometers of ice during this period.

Continuous melting has affected 30 million people in Pakistan, flooding not only farmlands but cities as well. In areas like Balochistan and Sindh, average rainfall has increased by 400% and over 20 dam rapids have failed.

Pakistan experienced similar floods and destruction in 2010, killing nearly 2,000 people.

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