Glaciers and Polar Ice Caps

Featured Articles
February 12, 2021
Need to revamp developmental planning in the Uttarakhand hills
The havoc points to the faultlines in the developmental planning of ecologically sensitive areas.
The glacial burst in Chamoli is nature’s way of telling the state not to play havoc with the local ecology. (Image: Down to Earth)
February 10, 2021
The Uttarakhand disaster: A warning to be better prepared!
The Uttarakhand disaster reaffirms earlier warnings on the fragility of the Himalayan region calling for more careful planning and preparedness in the future!
A view of the Himalayas. (Source: IWP Flickr photos--photo for representation purpose only)
December 6, 2019
India’s tryst with climate change
Dr. Aradhana Yaduvanshi, a hydro meteorologist at WOTR, talks to us about what current research on global warming shows, and possible adaptation and coping mechanisms.
Flooding in Mumbai during the monsoons (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
December 6, 2019
Holistic approach needed to clean the Ganga
A report by the India Rivers Forum highlights the need to focus further than the main stem of the Ganga river.
Distant snow clad mountains, the smaller hills and the Ganga river (Image: Srimoyee Banerjee, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
November 6, 2019
300 million people will be vulnerable to annual coastline flooding by 2050
The number of people vulnerable to floods triggered by climate change by 2050 is triple that of previous estimates, according to a new study.
Aerial view of Chennai during floods 2015 (Image: Veethika, Wikimedia Commons, CC-SA 4.0 International)
October 24, 2019
Ice stupas, the contested water towers of Ladakh
While ice stupas have been hailed as sustainable solutions to the water problems of Ladakh’s villages, the locals think otherwise.
Ice Stupas near Phyang monastery (Image Courtsey: Sumita Roy Dutta, Wikimedia Commons)
Don't cut my oak trees: A film on afforestation in Uttarakhand by the Himalaya Seva Sangh
"Don't cut my oak trees, they give me water"."We get cool air from them, we get cool water".
"Don't cut my oak trees, they give me water".

So goes the plaintive title song of this short movie. Produced by the Himalaya Seva Sangh, the film on afforestation relies heavily on interviews with Dr.Shekhar Pathak of PAHAR and self-help group members from Mukteshwar, Sunadi, and Indwal.
Himalaya Seva Sangh
Posted on 30 Dec, 2012 07:40 PM

Artificial glaciers- a Tedx talk by Chewang Norphel
In the cold deserts of Ladakh, people are dependent on meltwater from glaciers to meet their needs
Chewang Norphel
Posted on 16 Oct, 2012 02:57 PM

Climate change however, has resulted in several of these local glaciers drying up. Chewang Norphel, a civil engineer, has pioneered the concept of creating artificial 'glaciers' that store water in the form of ice, and release it in the summer.
Living rivers, dying rivers:Rivers of West Bengal, Orissa & Indus system
The eleventh lecture in the series titled "Living rivers, dying rivers" was on rivers of West Bengal, Orissa and the Indus system,by Dr. Kalyan Rudra, Mr. Ranjan K Panda and Prof. Shakil Romshoo.
India International Centre
Posted on 13 Oct, 2012 11:15 PM

West Bengal rivers
The Indus river (Source: Wikipedia)
Report on Indian Mountain Initiative Sustainable Mountain Development Summit 2 held at Gangtok, Sikkim between May 25-26, 2012
The second Sustainable Mountain Development Summit of the Indian Mountain Initiative (IMI) was held on May 25 at Chintan Bhawan, Gangtok
Raju Mimi
Usha Dewani
Posted on 09 Sep, 2012 03:57 PM

Around 250 delegates from eleven hill states of India along with representatives from Darjeeling hills participated in the two days summit. It was organized by Ecotourism and Conservation Society of Sikkim (ECOSS) jointly with Central Himalayan Environment Association (CHEA).
Flood control policies in India - A paper in the journal Golden Research Thoughts
The paper traces the history of flood management in India, its successes and failures, the methods and structures used for flood management and suggests the way forward
Swati Mollah
Posted on 25 Jul, 2012 10:37 AM

This paper published in the journal Golden Research Thoughts aims at describing the different initiatives undertaken by the expert committees and Government of India in tackling the flood problem of India.
Himmothan Pariyojana's drinking water and sanitation (WATSAN) interventions in Uttarakhand
Rural development issues in Uttarakhand
Vinod Kothari
Posted on 05 Jun, 2012 10:32 PM

In 2001, the Himmothan Pariyojana (HMP) programme was initiated to work on rural development issues in collaboration with the Government of Uttarakhand, as formalised by a 10-year MoU between the two in 2004.

The state and fate of Himalayan glaciers - A paper published in the magazine Science
This paper published in the magazine Science highlights the importance of the Himalayan glaciers, the current uncertainties in relation to the status of glaciers, their implications for water resources in the region and the prevailing public and scientific debate around them. Current evidence indicates that most Himalayan glaciers are losing mass at rates similar to glaciers elsewhere, except for emerging indications of stability or mass gain in the Karakoram.
A Kääb
A Kulkarni
C Huggel
F Paul
H Frey
J G Cogley
J. S. Kargel
K Fujita
M Scheel
M Stoffel
S Bajracharya
T Bolch
Posted on 05 May, 2012 06:21 PM

The paper argues that there is a poor understanding of the processes affecting the Himalayan glaciers in the context of the diversity of climatic conditions and the extremes of topographical relief within the region, making projections speculative, which can have a significant impact on the future of water resources in the area. It is thus important to have more information on the status of the glaciers in the Himalayan region.

The status of glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region - A report by the ICIMOD
This study by ICIMOD provides a comprehensive account of the number and status of glaciers across the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region.
Basanta Shrestha
Samjwal Ratna Bajracharya
Posted on 17 Feb, 2012 03:00 PM

The HKH region is one of the most dynamic, fragile, and complex mountain systems in the world as a result of tectonic activity and the rich diversity of climates, hydrology, and ecology. The high Himalayan region is the freshwater tower of South Asia and has the highest concentration of snow and glaciers outside the polar regions giving it the name Third Pole.

Balati glacier at sunset

Balati glacier, Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand (Source: Uttarakhand and I)

Climate change in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas -The state of current knowledge - A book by ICIMOD
This book by ICIMOD presents an analyses of the available data on climate change in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region, and identifies persisting insufficiencies in the data.
Bhaskar Singh Karky
Eklabya Sharma
Isabella Bassignana Khadka
Surender P Singh
Posted on 16 Feb, 2012 01:10 PM

The Hindu Kush-Himalayan region has had very few resources to develop a detail scientific understanding needed to assess climatological, environmental, and other data in the past and there is very little information upon which a baseline for comparison with the present can be formed and future impacts can be anticipated.
Climate change adaptation in Himachal Pradesh - Sustainable strategies for water resources - A report by the ADB
This report published by the Asia Development Bank (ADB) includes the findings of the study that examined the status of water resources in Himachal Pradesh.
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Posted on 16 Feb, 2012 10:29 AM

It includes the present and planned water utilisation across sectors and uses, within a framework of environment, conservation and sustainability. It also examined the present institutional arrangements for water resources management and assessed the requirements for institutional development, improvement in data collection and analysis, catchment and agriculture planning, and other reforms required to ensure sustainable water resources management.

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