The state and fate of Himalayan glaciers.

Spatially heterogeneous wastage of Himalayan glaciers.

We describe volumetric changes in three benchmark glaciers in the Nepal Himalayas on which observations have been made since the 1970s. Compared with the global mean of glacier mass balance, the Himalayan glaciers showed rapid wastage in the 1970s-1990s, but similar wastage in the last decade. In the last decade, a glacier in an arid climate showed negative but suppressed mass balance compared ...

An Overview of Potential Ecotourism Resources and Their Prospects in Valley of Flowers National Park, Uttaranchal, India

Protected areas are major tourism assets for a nation, particularly for developing countries providing sustainable benefit to the local community while funding for the maintenance and rehabilitation of the protected areas themselves. Valley of flowers national park is naturally meant for the conservation and study of western Himalayan flora. It became National park in 1982 and after that livest...

Spatially variable response of Himalayan glaciers to climate change affected by debris cover

Controversy about the current state and future evolution of Himalayan glaciers has been stirred up by erroneous statements in the fourth report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change1,2. Variable retreat rates3–6 and a paucity of glacial mass-balance data7,8 make it difficult to develop a coherent picture of regional climate-change impacts in the region. Here, we report remotely-sense...

Widespread Albedo Decreasing and Induced Melting of Himalayan Snow and Ice in the Early 21st Century

BACKGROUND The widely distributed glaciers in the greater Himalayan region have generally experienced rapid shrinkage since the 1850s. As invaluable sources of water and because of their scarcity, these glaciers are extremely important. Beginning in the twenty-first century, new methods have been applied to measure the mass budget of these glaciers. Investigations have shown that the albedo is ...

Impact of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor on snow cover and glaciers in the Himalayan, Karakorum, and Hindukush region