Climate Change in Third Pole

In News

• The two lakes — Chibzhang Co and Dorsoidong Co — in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region grew larger between October 1987 and 2021. 
  • But much of these glaciers are retreating due to rising temperatures, accelerating ice loss and meltwater runoff.

Climate Change

• United Nations-backed research in June 2021 flagged that 
  • Up to 2 billion people in southeast Asia can face food and water shortages 
    • even as the Hindu-Kush-Himalayan (HKH) Region mountain ranges lose up to two-thirds of their ice by 2100.
  • In the future, even if global warming is kept to 1.5 degrees C above the pre-industrialisation levels, 
    • warming in the HKH region is likely to be at least 0.3 degrees C higher, and 
    • In the northwest Himalaya and Karakoram at least 0.7 degrees C higher.

Third Pole and the Worrying Signs

• The climate crisis is altering the geography of the Third Pole.
  • The region’s glaciers have been melting faster than any other part of the world.
  • A study published in 2019 on the ice thickness of glaciers estimated that 
    • Glaciers in the HKH may contain 27 per cent less ice than previously suggested.
• Reasons of retreating, thinning and shrinking of Glaciers 
  • rising temperatures 
  • accelerating ice loss 
  • meltwater runoff.
• This region also accounts for the largest reserve of freshwater lakes, 
  • Satellite images from the region have reported growth in the size of its lakes.

Observations of  NASA’s Earth Observatory 

• Two lakes Chibzhang Co and Dorsoidong Co 
  • Location: to the west of the Tanggula Mountains.
    • a small range in the central part of the Tibetan Plateau. 
  • Increase in size 
    • Grew larger between October 1987 (when the first image was acquired) and October 2021 (when the second image was acquired).
    • The area of the lakes grew by 23 per cent between 1976 and 2017, according to the researchers. 
  • Increased Depth
    • The lakes have become much deeper over time.
    • The depth of the channel that connects the two main lobes of the lake increased. 
      • According to data from NASA’s global water monitor, the increase is by about 26 feet between the early 1990s and 2021
  • Water Levels
    • Water levels were much steadier in the lakes that received water from glacial melting than in the lakes that received water from precipitation.
    • About half of the overall increase in the size of lakes was driven by glacial melting.

Processes that affect the size of the lakes

• Amount of annual precipitation
• Rate of evaporation
• Amount of runoff from melting glaciers
• Permafrost during summer months.

(Image: October 12, 1987. Source: NASA: The colour difference between the two lakes in the 1987 image was caused by the two lakes being separated by a thin strip of land. The two lakes merged into one in the mid-2000s when rising water levels submerged the strip of land.)

(Image: October 9, 2021. Source: NASA)

Way Ahead

• The world needs to mitigate the climate change crisis by Policies and actions as described below
  • Net Zero targets
    • The countries need to push for net-zero rather than the targets of gross zeros as per IPCC’s 6th Assessment Report.
  • Food Security 
    • Farmers will need support to design and invest in locally appropriate agricultural practices.
  • Energy Security
    • New hydropower plants and grids will need to take into account the changing climate and water availability.
    • India can be a model in utilising Solar and other Renewable Energy.
  • Information dissemination

• Early warning systems need to be improved and upgraded. 

• More R&D and Investment 
  • Higher spending in discovering novel techniques for capacity building and infrastructure design can go miles in mitigating climate change.

Source: DTE