Uttarakhand glacier burst | Experts point to climate change impact
[ad_1]
Glacier retreat, permafrost thaw are projected to lower the steadiness of mountain slopes, say reviews.
A deluge that resulted from a glacial soften on Nanda Devi flooded the Rishiganga river in Uttarakhand and washed away a minimum of two hydroelectric energy initiatives — the13.2 MW Rishiganga hydroelectric energy undertaking and the Tapovan undertaking on the Dhauliganga river, a tributary of the Alakananda.
There have been additionally considerations that the surplus water would additional journey downstream to the river Alaknanda and threaten villages in addition to hydro initiatives on the river.
However the India Meteorological Department has mentioned that no rains are forecast. Officials of the Central Water Commission in the meantime mentioned the flooding from the glacial burst has been contained.
Environmental consultants have attributed the glacial soften to international warming. Glacier retreat and permafrost thaw are projected to lower the steadiness of mountain slopes and improve the quantity and space of glacier lakes, in accordance to the most recent evaluation reviews of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
There can be excessive confidence that the quantity and space of glacier lakes will proceed to improve in most areas within the coming many years, and new lakes will develop nearer to steep and probably unstable mountain partitions the place lake outbursts may be extra simply triggered.
Farooque Azam, Assistant Professor, Glaciology and Hydrology division, IIT Indore, mentioned such a glacial burst was an “extremely rare event”.
“Satellite and Google Earth images do not show a glacial lake near the region, but there’s a possibility that there may be a water pocket in the region. Water pockets are lakes inside the glaciers, which may have erupted leading to this event. We need further analysis, weather reports and data to confirm if this indeed was the case,” he mentioned.
Climate change has pushed erratic climate patterns like elevated snowfall and rainfall, hotter winters has led to the melting of a number of snow. The thermal profile of ice, say consultants, was growing. Earlier the temperature of ice ranged from -6 to -20 diploma C, it’s now -2 making it extra prone to melting.
