The number of lakes formed by the melting of glaciers is increasing continuously
The number of lakes formed due to the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas due to global warming is increasing continuously. The number of such lakes in the higher Himalayas and the Pir Panjal range has doubled in the last 40 years. The size of the already existing lakes has also increased by 2 to 3 times. With the increase in the size and number of lakes, the region is prone to floods due to excessive rainfall, glacier break or landslides.
This has been disclosed by Professor Chandra Prakash of the Civil Department of NIT Hamirpur. For years, he has been researching lakes formed by glaciers. This study of glacier lakes has been done with the help of Indian Remote Sensing Satellite data and Corona Aerial Photograph done by the US in 1971. In the year 1971, a total of 77 lakes with an area of 1000 square meters existed in the Chandra, Bhaga, Beas and Parvati river basins of the High Himalayas and Pir Panjal range.
In 2011 their number increased to 155. The number of lakes is increasing in Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet and the regions of Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh in India. The Pir Panjal range separating the Chandra and Bhaga basins from the Beas and Parvati basins has also been the focus of this study. However, more glacier lakes have been formed in the higher Himalayan range than in the Pir Panjal range in the last four decades.
How many lakes and size grew in which basin
Studies in the higher Himalayas show that Chandra basin had 14 lakes in 1971 which increased to 48 in 2011, while Bhaga basin had 26 lakes which increased to 46 in 1971. Similarly, the Parvati basin of the Pir Panjal range had 15 lakes in 1971, which increased to 29 in 2011. In the Vyas basin of this range, 22 lakes in the year 1971 increased to 31 in the year 2011.
The size of all these lakes is more than 1000 square meters, while many lakes of smaller size are also in these river basins. Glaciers melting due to global warming are a major threat to humanity. Before 2016, 1348 glacier lakes have erupted around the world. 13000 people have died in these incidents.
