Dahr Jamail on the End of Ice

The End of Ice: Dahr Jamail on Climate Disruption from the Melting Himalayas to Insect Extinction

Democracy Now!

A new report finds at least a third of the Himalayan ice cap will melt by the end of the century due to climate change, even if the world’s most ambitious environmental reforms are implemented. 

The report, released by the Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment earlier this month, is the culmination of half a decade’s work by over 200 scientists, with an additional 125 experts peer reviewing their work. 

It warns rising temperatures in the Himalayas could lead to mass population displacement, as well as catastrophic food and water insecurity. 

The glaciers are a vital water source for the 250 million people who live in the Hindu Kush Himalaya range, which spans from Afghanistan to Burma. 

More than 1.5 billion people depend on the rivers that flow from the Himalayan peaks. 

We speak with Dahr Jamail, independent journalist and author of the new book “The End of Ice: Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption.”

Demise of Himalaya glaciers "faster than previously expected"

Global warming predicted to melt massive Himalayan glaciers, disrupt food production

The Khumbu Glacier in Nepal, pictured in 2009, is one of the Himalayan glaciers threatened by global warming, a new report suggests. (Photo: ICIMOD/ALEX TREADWAY HANDOUT, EPA-EFE)

USA Today,

February 4, 2019

Antarctica and Greenland aren't the Earth's only frozen places threatened by human-caused climate change: The Himalayas are also at risk, scientists announced Monday.

In fact, a whopping two-thirds of Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2100 if global warming continues, according to the new report. 

Such a catastrophic melt would disrupt the flow of Asian rivers, which are a crucial resource for crops for billions of people in China, India and six other countries.

"This is the climate crisis you haven't heard of," said Philippus Wester, a scientist with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, which released the report. “Global warming is on track to transform the frigid, glacier-covered mountain peaks ... to bare rocks in a little less than a century," he said in a statement. 

The glaciers are now a critical source of water for about 250 million people in the mountains and an additional 1.65 billion others who live in the river valleys below, the report said.  

Water from the melting glacial ice could lead to floods along such major rivers as the Ganges and the Indus, potentially destroying crops.

According to the report, the region is known as the world’s “Third Pole” for its huge store of ice, and it is also home to Mount Everest, K2 and other iconic peaks

Prepared over a five-year period with contributions from more than 350 researchers, the report is the first "to lay down in definitive detail the region’s critical importance to the well-being of billions and its alarming vulnerability, especially in the face of climate change,” said David Molden, director general of the development group that published the study.

Though the mountains are tens of millions of years old, their glaciers are extremely sensitive to the changing climate. Since the 1970s, when global warming first set in, these huge masses of ice have steadily thinned and retreated.

Man-made climate change, aka global warming, is caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as gas, coal and oil, which release greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane into the atmosphere. This extra CO2 causes temperatures of the atmosphere and oceans to rise to levels that can't be explained by natural causes.

In addition to the warming effects from those invisible greenhouse gases, the area is also plagued by punishing levels of air pollution. Black carbon and dust pollution can exacerbate and amplify the effects of greenhouse gases, further accelerating ice melt, the report said.

The polluted air also changes monsoon and rainfall patterns all across Asia. 

Besides China and India, the other six most threatened Asian nations are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.

“We need to start thinking of mountain regions as climate hotspots worthy of urgent attention, investments and solutions,” concluded Dasho Rinzin Dorji of Bhutan, a board member of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development.

The Lirung Glacier is 37 miles northwest of Kathmandu, Nepal. Two-thirds of Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2100 if global emissions are not reduced, scientists warned in a major study released Feb. 4, 2019. (Photo: SAM TAYLOR, AFP/Getty Images)

Climate change is roasting the Himalaya region, threatening millions

The forest fires in India

This is the reality

Uttarakhand Forest Fires May Cause Faster Melting Of Himalayan Glaciers According To Experts

Raging forest fires in Uttarakhand could have a devastating effect on the state's glaciers which are the lifeline of the major rivers flowing through India's northern plains.

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Times of India,

3 May, 2016

According to experts at Nainital's Aryabhatta Research Institute for Observational Sciences (ARIES) and Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development (GBPIHED) in Almora, 'black carbon' from smog and ash is covering the glaciers, thereby making them prone to melting.

Elaborating on what he termed a 'long lasting effect' of the fires, Manish Kumar, a senior scientist at the atmospherics department in ARIES, told TOI, "Black carbon is formed by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, biofuels and biomass. It absorbs light and increases heat, which is why it can cause glaciers to melt faster."

7savers

Water in the rivers which originate from these glaciers also stand to get heavily polluted by harmful particles and compounds that constitute black carbon, Kumar said.

According to experts, forest fires have already resulted in a jump of 0.2 degrees Celsius in temperatures across northern India which can have a detrimental effect on the monsoons. "Black carbon floats in air for a long time and gets deposited on clouds interfering with the normal cycle of the monsoons," said Kirit Kumar, a scientist from Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Almora. Other experts, however, said the interaction of black carbon with clouds was complex and could have varied effects.

i.huffpost

The glaciers which are most at risk, according to Kumar of ARIES, are those that are situated at relatively low altitudes such as Gangotri, Milam, Sundardunga, Newla and Cheepa, which are also the source of many rivers. In order to study the effect that the fires are having on these glaciers, a team of scientists from GBPIHED would soon undertake a scientific trip to these heights.

Pointing out why the scientific community was getting increasingly concerned as the fires have kept on raging in the forests, Kirit Kumar said, "In normal circumstances, glaciers act as mirrors reflecting most of the light and heat. This is known as 'albedo'. But when black carbon gets deposited on them, it results in their absorbing all the light and heat which eventually results in their meltdown. 

This is a serious concern."

And this is the fantasy, courtesy of Global Warming Facts of the Day. Those folks no doubt believe in nonsense like this.

India to spend $6 billion on creating new forests

 

GIST‏@GIST_India

Lok Sabha passes Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, Rs 40000 crore unlocked for increasing forest cover in India|

India is planning to spend 41,000 rupees ($6.2 billion) on an unprecedented afforestation program to increase the nation’s forest cover.

Forests currently cover about 21 percent of the vast subcontinent’s surface. Under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF), which was passed with support all across the political spectrum in 2015, that cover will be increased to 33 percent in the coming years

“I am sure that this fund will give a tremendous push in our afforestation movement,” India’s Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters outside Parliament on May 3. “Our forest cover will dramatically increase and it will result in achieving our target 33 percent of tree cover and most importantly 2.5 billion tonne of carbon sink as we have indicated in our INDCs.”

As the home to over 1.25 billion people, India contains 17.5 percent of Earth’s human population and is the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gasses of all countries. Increasing forest cover plays an integral role in helping to curb the environmental impact of those emissions under the nation’s new climate plan, also known as its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC).

The fires of the Himalayas

The Fires of Climate Change are Burning the Himalayas

Robertscribbler,

3 May, 2016

It’s the highest mountain range in the world. Featuring peaks that scrape the sky, dwindling glaciers, and lush forests, these gentle giants are essential to the prosperity and stability of one of Asia’s greatest lands. For rainwater and glacial melt flowing out of the Himalayas feeds the rivers that are the very life-blood of India and her 1.25 billion people.

A major wildfire burns through the forests of Ahirikot in Srinagar, India on Monday, May 2, 2016. Massive wildfires that killed at least seven people over recent days burned through pine forests in the Himalaya mountains of northern India on Monday. (Image source: Press Trust of India)

But in 2016, amidst what is likely to be the most intense period of extreme heat to ever impact India, the Himalayas are burning.

Extreme Heat, Drought Kills Hundreds, Displaces Farmers, Puts Towns on Life Support

Throughout April and into early May temperatures have soared to well above 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 C) and to sometimes higher than 122 F (50 C) all across the broad plains at the feet of the Himalayas. There, water stress now affects more than 330 million people. There, water trains are now necessary to keep whole towns from suffering dehydration. Farmers who have seen fields transformed into a baked white hard-pan are migrating to the cities in search of food, water and work. And armed guards now patrol the local water sources in regions hardest hit by the drought — preventing private farmers from stealing public water supplies for their crops.

The temperatures are so high that more than 300 people have now perished as a result of heat injuries. And Indian officials have now banned cooking during the day in an effort to reduce loss of life. But today the forests themselves are cooking as the air is filled with the smoke of more than 21,000 fires burning upon the flanks of India’s great mountain ranges.

21,000 Himalayan Wildfires

The fires began as early as February after a dry Winter and two years of depleted monsoonal rains. They continued to build through March and April. State firefighters were called up to combat the blazes, but to no avail. The fires kept growing and expanding. By last week the fires had begun to rage out of control — threatening 84 villages and enveloping more and more of the precious natural forest reserves that India has worked so hard to husband. By Monday, seven people had been killed by the fires and two endangered tiger preserves had been partially consumed.

Massive plume of smoke from Himalayan wildfires becomes visible in the LANCE MODIS satellite shot on May 1, 2016. For reference, bottom edge of frame is about 600 miles.

Now conditions are so extreme that an army of 9,000 firefighters, including helicopter fire suppression craft, have been mobilized by the government of India in a desperate effort to beat back the flames. Blazes that are belching out thick clouds of smoke that now choke the airs over 1,000 miles of the Indian subcontinent, the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh, Thailand and Cambodia. A thickening slate-gray pall that is clearly visible in the satellite picture above.

In total, more than 21 districts in two Indian states are now affected by the most intense fire situation to strike India since 2012 and what could well become the worst burning season India has ever experienced. Already, number of fires started in the first four months of 2016 exceed the total number of fires during all of 2015. And India’s hottest months — May and June — are still ahead. So despite a massive firefighting effort, weather conditions will only continue to worsen during the weeks ahead. Meanwhile, the monsoonal rains, if they do muster sufficient strength to alleviate the drought, will not arrive in the mountains until late June or early July.

A Context of Climate Change

Weak monsoonal rains over the past two years have contributed to 2016’s severe drought and related wildfires. And a strong El Nino has likely abetted this monsoonal weakening. However, increasing global temperatures set up an overarching trend of heating and drying throughout India. One that is, all-too-likely, the larger driver of this year’s drought and burning. For these days, atmospheric temperatures are high enough to weaken the Southeast Asian Monsoon even without the influence of El Nino. In addition, rising temperatures over India have their own localized drying effect. In the Himalayas, a warming of about 0.6 degrees C per decade since 1977 has generated a decline in glaciers. This decline causes mountain streams and rivers to dwindle — increasing both drought and fire risk. The added heat also increases the rate of evaporation — parching the soil.

As a result, the current drought, heatwaves, and wildfires in India occur in a context of human-caused climate change. Hitting an intensity we would not have seen in the world of the 19th and 20th Centuries. Thus, fossil fuel burning has, almost certainly, set the stage for the unprecedented conditions that India is now experiencing today. Conditions that will continue to worsen as more hothouse gas emissions hit the world’s airs. The current crisis in India should, therefore, not be viewed as temporary, but as part of an ongoing trend.

Links:

Wildfires Sweep Through Mountains in North India

With Climate Change, Himalayas Future is Warmer, Not Brighter

Wildfire Engulfs 3,000 Hectarces in Himachal

Thousands Sent to Fight Wildfires in Himalayan Foothills of India

LANCE-MODIS

More Than 300 Million People Now Suffer From the Worst Indian Drought in at Least 4 Decades

Armed Guards Now Patrol Dams in India

Press Trust of India

Hat tip to Redsky

Hat tip to TodaysGuestIs

The disappearing ice in the European alps

The melting cryosphere

Image credit: 1960 photo Bradford Washburn; 2005 photo David Arnold/ Panopticon Gallery, Boston.

Via Facebook

Most of the worlds glaciers and ice caps are shrinking at an astonishing rate (compared to the worst case predictions being made just a few years ago), and a variety of projects have showcased this fact. This pair of photos released by NASA shows the changes in the 45 years between August 1960 and 2005 (August 16, 1960 9.00 am and August 18, 2005 at 9.10 am respectively) on the iconic Matterhorn (aka Cervino, whose geology we covered in depth at http://on.fb.me/1fVu9MR, sited on the Swiss/Italian border.

The loss of glaciers is evident, and proving a growing hazard to mountaineers as rock or ice falls increase in frequency and intensity as the glaciers and permafrost that hold many of these masses of tectonically shattered rock that we call mountain peaks together slowly warms and turns to mush. Similar melting caused the serac (an overhanging wall of glacial ice) to collapse last year onto some working sherpas on the Khumbu icefall on Everest, since shattered by the recent quake. As the world warms, mountains are a place where the changes are more obvious than many others.

A note from a reader: 

I was just there. There's even less snow...and I was in short sleeves at 10,000 feet.

To see the same process in the Nepalese Himalayas read Kevin Hester's story

Kevin Hester’s trip to Nepal

Trekking in Nepal to study the effects of Abrupt Climate Change, feel free to use the pictures as you wish on the basis of the creative commons. The purpose of the trip is to identify the consequences of abrupt climate change on Nepal and to hopefully study the effect of aerosol and black soot on the albedo effect/ reflectivity of the snow and ice.

Everest to the right in the distance with the ever present vapour trail.

Followthe ridge line down and on the central forested ridge is Temboche Monastery our destination, circa 4000m. Note how high the snow line is.

This photo was taken in the Annapuna mountains in the Himalaya at 4000m with the snow line 500m above us.

Read his account of Kevin’s trIp HERE

The Nepal earthquake

This is an earlier report before the sale of casualties became known,  but has photos.

As of now:

Nepal is in our thoughts and prayers right now after yesterday’s earthquake.

Thanks to Mylum O’Shinn for the heads-up

Summary

• More than 1,000 people have been reported dead after a huge 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal
  
  
• The country’s deputy prime minister, Bamdev Gautam, has declared a state of emergency and appealed for humanitarian assistance across the region.
  
  
• 18 climbers were found dead on Mount Everest after the tremor triggered an avalanche. Many more are trapped.
  
  
• The total death toll has risen quickly throughout the day, and is now thought to include at least 634 in the Kathmandu Valley and 300 more in the capital.
  
  
• 36 people have also been reported dead India, 12 in China, four in Bangladesh and six in Tibet.
  
  
• The quake caused dozens of buildings in Kathmandu to collapse, including the historic Dharahara Tower.
  
  
• The city’s main hospital is overwhelmed by casualties and residents are facing a night on the streets with nowhere to go.
  
  
• Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has ordered an immediate dispatch of relief and medical teams to Nepal, and the evacuation of Indian tourists.

In pics: Earthquake strikes Nepal, rocks India, brings panic and destruction

Dharahara, also called Bhimsen Tower, a nine storey tall tower at the center of Sundhara, Kathmandu has collapsed. (Photo by Special Arrangement)

Hindustan Times,

15 April, 2015

An earthquake measuring 7.9 magnitude struck 80 km (50 miles) east of Pokhara in Nepal on Saturday, about half way between the town and the capital Kathmandu, the US Geological Survey said, and witnesses said some buildings in Kathmandu had collapsed.

There was no immediate word on casualties. The quake was 31 km (19 miles) deep.

Tremors were also felt in north and east India. The tremors were felt in most cities, including Delhi, Guwahati, Patna, Ranchi, Kolkata and Jaipur.

Rescuers help injured residents to get to safe area. (Reuters)

An injured man receives treatment outside the Medicare Hospital in Kathmandu. (AP Photo)

Nepalese health workers carry injured people into an open area. (AFP Photo)

Rescue workers remove debris at Durbar Square. (AP Photo)

 
A house collapsed in Siliguri after the earthquake. (Bikram Shashanker/ HT Photo)

A girl breaks down in Lucknow after the earthquake. (Deepak Gupta/ HT Photo)

Rescuers clear the debris at Durbar Sqaure after the earthquake in Kathmandu.(AP Photo)
7.9-magnitude earthquake struck east of Pokhara in Nepal, causing widespread damage to buildings in the capital Kathmandu and injuring dozens across the country. (Utpal Parashar/HT Photo)
The epicentre of the massive quake was 80km (50 miles) east of Pokhara in Nepal, about half way between the town and the capital Kathmandu, the US Geological Survey said. (Photo credit- @iHunnt on Twitter)
The quake was followed by at least four aftershocks ranging in magnitude from 6.6 to 4.8, the USGS said. (Utpal Parashar/HT Photo)

A building collapses in Jalpaiguri distrcit, Bengal. (HT Photo)

Buildings collapses after massive earthquake rock Nepal. (Photo credit- @Jaw_Knock on Twitter)


Injured peopel are being rushed for treatment in Nepal.  (Photo credit- @gunaraj on Twitter)

Buildings collapsed and walls of several houses reduced to rubble in Nepal. (Photo credit- @iHunnt on Twitter)

People vacate offices after tremors were felt in Kolkata. (Photo by @Itsanindita on Twitter)


In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a collapsed building is seen in Nepal's capital Kathmandu. (AP Photo)


People walk past collapsed buildings at Lalitpur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu.  A powerful 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, causing massive damage in the capital Kathmandu with strong tremors felt across neighbouring countries. (AFP Photo)


Rescue members and onlookers gather at the collapsed Darahara Tower in Kathmandu. (AFP Photo)


A damaged road after a powerful earthquake hit Kathmandu, Nepal. (Photo by Special Arrangement)


People gather near a building that collapsed after an earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal. (Photo by Special Arrangement)


Damage caused by the earthquake at Durbar Square in Kathmandu, Nepal. (AP Photo)


Rescue members move the body of a victim from the collapsed Darahara Tower in Kathmandu. (AFP Photo)