Glaciers Are Melting Rapidly, NASA Claims Based On Satellite Data

Glaciers are melting rapidly, after 1990, lakes made of glaciers increased in size by 50 percent, NASA claims based on satellite data. The volume of glacier-fed lakes worldwide has increased by about 50 percent since 1990. The reason for this is that glaciers melt rapidly due to climate change. This was revealed in satellite data released by the US space agency NASA. NASA has made this claim based on 30 years of data.

This research, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, has revealed that the volume of Lake Imja near Mount Everest has tripled since 1990. Researchers say the findings of this study may aid in assessing the potential hazards of these lakes and help improve the accuracy of estimates of sea-level rise.

Dan Sugar, the lead author of this study from the University of Calgary, Canada, said, “We know that molten water does not immediately enter the oceans.” But till now we had no data to estimate how much water is being stored in lakes or groundwater. ‘ He said that the study shows that at present the volume of the lake made of glaciers is about 156 cubic kilometers.

A study was done like this

For this study, an international team of researchers used satellite imaging and other remote sensing data to study the two dozen glacial lakes in the mountain ranges, including the Himalayas, surrounding them. The climate change is pegged after looking at more than 250,000 photos acquired from the Lantiate satellite mission under NASA and the US Geological Survey Program.

Lakes are damaged by moraine

In addition, researchers examined all the snow-capped regions of the world except Antarctica in five phases from 1990 to find out how the volume of glacial lakes is changing. Researchers said glacial lakes are not as stable as normal lakes. They often have ice and glacier sediment (called moraine) falling, causing these lakes to get damaged and their shape changes. At times, large amounts of snowfall also pose a threat to large-scale flooding.

Researchers said that if the lakes break their bonds then there can be a disaster. In the last century, there was also the loss of huge wealth in such disastrous events. He said that even today, due to climate change, the edges of the glaciers are breaking, the latest example of which is the flood in the Hunza Valley of Pakistan in May this year.