Volume 6, Issue 4, July 2014, Pages 871–910
Syed Naseem Abbas Gilany1
1 Institute of Geographical Information System, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The glaciers of the Hindukush-Karakoram-Himalayan (HKH) region consist of a huge amount of perpetual snow and ice. These glaciers are retreating in the face of accelerating global warming. Estimation of volumetric decrease of Siachen glacier out of Shyok river basin and that of Baltoro and Biafo Glaciers out of Shiger river basin is carried out in this study using Remote sensing satellite and Topographic data.
The total geographic area of the river basins in northern areas is about 128,730 km2. Altogether, 5,218 large and small glaciers in northern areas cover a total glaciated area of about 15,040 km2. The total ice reserves in HKH region of Pakistan are about 2,738 km3. The Hunza, Shyok and Shigar basins contain the major part (about 83%) of these ice reserves.
Alpine glaciers are subjected to volumetric decrease owing to host of factors. This study presents the volumetric decrease computations during the decade of 1990-2000 of largest glaciers of northern areas of Pakistan. The results computed through study are there after compared with mathematical model of ice reserves and ice thickness which supplements their validity. Finally the correlation of volumetric decrease of these glaciers with average temperature rise of northern areas and sea level rise along coastline of Pakistan during the last decade is carried out.
The percentage volumetric decrease of Siachen, Baltoro and Biafo and glaciers during the decade, computed in this study work, subjected to manifest of global warming and anthropogenic activities indicates that three out of world's seven largest glaciers have experienced a volume loss of 11.09, 6.14% and 3.79% respectively during the decade of 1990-2000.
Author Keywords: Siachen Glacier, Volumetric Decrease, Baltoro and Biafo Glaciers, Pakistan.
Syed Naseem Abbas Gilany1
1 Institute of Geographical Information System, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
The glaciers of the Hindukush-Karakoram-Himalayan (HKH) region consist of a huge amount of perpetual snow and ice. These glaciers are retreating in the face of accelerating global warming. Estimation of volumetric decrease of Siachen glacier out of Shyok river basin and that of Baltoro and Biafo Glaciers out of Shiger river basin is carried out in this study using Remote sensing satellite and Topographic data.
The total geographic area of the river basins in northern areas is about 128,730 km2. Altogether, 5,218 large and small glaciers in northern areas cover a total glaciated area of about 15,040 km2. The total ice reserves in HKH region of Pakistan are about 2,738 km3. The Hunza, Shyok and Shigar basins contain the major part (about 83%) of these ice reserves.
Alpine glaciers are subjected to volumetric decrease owing to host of factors. This study presents the volumetric decrease computations during the decade of 1990-2000 of largest glaciers of northern areas of Pakistan. The results computed through study are there after compared with mathematical model of ice reserves and ice thickness which supplements their validity. Finally the correlation of volumetric decrease of these glaciers with average temperature rise of northern areas and sea level rise along coastline of Pakistan during the last decade is carried out.
The percentage volumetric decrease of Siachen, Baltoro and Biafo and glaciers during the decade, computed in this study work, subjected to manifest of global warming and anthropogenic activities indicates that three out of world's seven largest glaciers have experienced a volume loss of 11.09, 6.14% and 3.79% respectively during the decade of 1990-2000.
Author Keywords: Siachen Glacier, Volumetric Decrease, Baltoro and Biafo Glaciers, Pakistan.
How to Cite this Article
Syed Naseem Abbas Gilany, “Degradation of Siachen Glacier in the Context of Volumetric Decrease in Siachen, Baltoro and Biafo Glaciers of Pakistan,” International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 871–910, July 2014.
