The Pensilungpa Glacier positioned in Ladakh’s Zanskar Valley is retreating due to improve in temperature and reduce in precipitation throughout winters, a latest study has discovered. Since 2015, the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG) at Dehradun, an autonomous physique below the Department of Science and Technology, has been engaged on numerous points on glaciology – glacier well being (mass steadiness) monitoring, dynamics, discharge, previous weather conditions, hypothesis for future local weather change and its influence on glaciers on this area. A staff of scientists from the institute ventured to study the much less explored area of the Himalayas at Zanskar in Ladakh.
Stake networking
”Based on subject observations for glacier mass steadiness collected through stake networking… over the glacier floor since 2016-2019, they assessed the influence of local weather change by way of the lens of previous and current response of the Pensilungpa Glacier, Zanskar Himalaya, Ladakh,” the study mentioned. In stake networking, stake made from bamboo, is put in on the glacier floor utilizing the steam drill for mass steadiness measurement.
Rate of decline
The study additionally mentioned that subject observations for 4 years (2015–2019) confirmed that the glacier is now retreating at a median fee of 6.7 plus/minus 3 metre each year. In the study printed within the journal Regional Environmental Change, the staff attributes the noticed recessional tendencies of the Pensilungpa Glacier to a rise within the temperature and reduce in precipitation throughout winters.
Debris cowl
The study additionally factors on the important affect of particles cowl on the mass steadiness and retreat of the glacier’s endpoint, particularly in summer season.
Furthermore, the mass steadiness knowledge for the three years (2016–2019) confirmed a unfavorable development with a small accumulation space ratio.
The study additionally means that due to steady rise within the air temperature in step with the worldwide development, the melting would improve, and it’s attainable that the precipitation of summer season durations at larger altitudes will change from snow to rain, and which will affect the summer season and winter sample.
