People living in remote areas are in severe danger if action isn't taken quickly due to the melting of glaciers. According to the Times of India, the Chorabari glacier, in the Garhwal Himalayas in India, "is retreating at an average rate of nearly 7m per year, according to Doon-based Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology."

What's happening?

Dehradun-based activist Amit Gupta filed a right to information query, so WIHG shared its data, "noting that the glacier's ice-covered area shrank from 6.1 sq km in 2009 to 5.91 sq km in 2019," per Times of India. The Chorabari glacier is staying on par with the losses of other glaciers in the Indian Himalayas, and many are retreating, according to the news outlet.

WIHG Senior Scientist Manish Mehta said, "In the case of Chorabari, the rate of retreat would have been significantly higher if not for the thick debris cover, which acts as an insulating layer, slowing down the glacier's melting."

It's not just WIHG's data showing this concern. IIT Mumbai's 2018 study that tracked the glaciers between 1976 and 2016 with satellites found "an average area loss of 0.8% per year," per the Times of India. 

Why are the melting glaciers concerning?

The Times of India report noted, "Just below the glacier is Chorabari Tal, a moraine-dammed lake that breached in June 2013 after heavy rainfall and rapid snow and ice melt, triggering catastrophic floods in Kedarnath that killed over 4,000 people and destroyed more than 3,300 homes."

Melting ice can really disrupt life in these mountain towns, as it has also in a village in Pakistan, where homes have been flooded and traditional farming practices have had to be abandoned. The Swat River nearby surged due to melting ice and heavy rain, and 55-year-old Asim Ali couldn't do anything to stop his house from flooding, as the Express Tribune reported.

RTI activist Amit Gupta said in the Times of India report, "It's clear that global warming and human activities are directly affecting the glacier near Kedarnath. There's an urgent need to regulate such activities and define a carrying capacity to prevent further damage."

Gupta added, "We must ask ourselves, at what cost are we pursuing development? It is our responsibility to protect Kedarnath's sanctity and ecological balance."

According to tech investor and journalist Molly Wood, the rising temperatures are like steroids for the weather. Additionally, it's these increasing temperatures that are causing the glacier melt.

A study led by the Victoria University of Wellington's Antarctic Research Centre also showed, "Water entering the oceans from melting ice sheets could cause extreme weather and a change in ocean circulation," reported the British Antarctic Survey. 

What's being done about melting glaciers?

Studies like these are vital. It's also essential to explore critical climate issues to better understand how to combat them.

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