141
Arctic and Himalaya both house densely distributed snow and ice cover. The
climate in the Arctic is changing more rapidly than in other regions of the world, in
recent years. The glaciers, ice caps, sea ice and permafrost are the key factors that
control the Arctic climate and ecosystem. The winter inputs and summer losses of
mass from glaciers and ice caps covering more than 2 million km
2
of the Polar North
vary in response to climate changes and affect global sea level (Dowdeswell 1995).
There are various studies conducted to estimate the global sea level rise (Jacob et al.
2012; Chen et al. 2013; Giesen and Oerlemans 2013; Dowdeswell et al. 1997;
Braithwaite et al. 2002; Bekryaev et al. (2003); Oerlemans 2005). Jacob et al. (2012)
estimate the global sea-level rise of 1.48 ± 0.26 mm a
−1
for the period 2003–2010
while Chen et al. (2013) have proposed a figure of 1.80 ± 0.47 mm a
−1
for the period
2005–2011, from all the glaciers and the ice sheets. The estimated contribution of
Arctic glaciers to sea-level rise up to 2100 varies from almost zero to about 6 cm
(Oerlemans 2005), though the contribution from all small glaciers to sea level rise
is difficult to estimate (e.g. Giesen and Oerlemans 2013; Braithwaite et al. 2002;
Braithwaite et al. 2002) since they show a large regional heterogeneity (Radić et al.
2014; Radić and Hock 2011).
Himalaya is known as third pole due to it having large glacier area at high altitudes, outside the Polar Region. Himalayan glaciers are important in view of their
socio economic impact on the densely populated region downstream that sustains
more than 1.3 billion people in various river basins depending on Himalayan rivers.
Scientific evidence shows that most glaciers in the Himalayan region are retreating,
leading to concerns that over the time, the glaciers of the Hindu Kush Himalayas
will dwindle in size until normal glacier melt can no longer contribute to the region’s
water supply each year. In the east, glaciers receive most accumulation during summer from the Indian monsoon, whereas in the west they accumulate snow mostly in
winter through westerly atmospheric circulations. In addition, a strong northward
decrease in precipitation is caused by the extreme topography. Therefore, variability
in observed glacier changes within the region is large, and quantifying the current
glacier mass change and its impacts on sea-level rise, water resources and natural
hazards is hampered by lack of sufficiently distributed and accurate data.
The current study provides an overview of glacier mass waste in Svalbard, Arctic
and Chandra basin, Himalaya during last seventeen years from 2000 to 2017. In
spite of having contrasting climate, Arctic and Himalaya with high latitude and low
latitude glacierized region of Northern Hemisphere respectively, the glaciers in both
the regions are experiencing enhanced melting.
2 Study Area
The Svalbard archipelago covering an area of 62,248 km
2
with ice volume 11,000 km
3
(Hagen et al. 1993) is the northernmost landmass in the European Arctic (Fig. 1a). It
has a variety of small- and medium-sized glaciers and ice caps (2100) which cover a
total area of 34,600 km
2
(60% of entire area), which is about 6% of the worldwide
Glacier Response to Climate in Arctic and Himalaya During Last Seventeen Years…
Arctic and Himalaya both house densely distributed snow and ice cover. The
climate in the Arctic is changing more rapidly than in other regions of the world, in
recent years. The glaciers, ice caps, sea ice and permafrost are the key factors that
control the Arctic climate and ecosystem. The winter inputs and summer losses of
mass from glaciers and ice caps covering more than 2 million km
2
of the Polar North
vary in response to climate changes and affect global sea level (Dowdeswell 1995).
There are various studies conducted to estimate the global sea level rise (Jacob et al.
2012; Chen et al. 2013; Giesen and Oerlemans 2013; Dowdeswell et al. 1997;
Braithwaite et al. 2002; Bekryaev et al. (2003); Oerlemans 2005). Jacob et al. (2012)
estimate the global sea-level rise of 1.48 ± 0.26 mm a
−1
for the period 2003–2010
while Chen et al. (2013) have proposed a figure of 1.80 ± 0.47 mm a
−1
for the period
2005–2011, from all the glaciers and the ice sheets. The estimated contribution of
Arctic glaciers to sea-level rise up to 2100 varies from almost zero to about 6 cm
(Oerlemans 2005), though the contribution from all small glaciers to sea level rise
is difficult to estimate (e.g. Giesen and Oerlemans 2013; Braithwaite et al. 2002;
Braithwaite et al. 2002) since they show a large regional heterogeneity (Radić et al.
2014; Radić and Hock 2011).
Himalaya is known as third pole due to it having large glacier area at high altitudes, outside the Polar Region. Himalayan glaciers are important in view of their
socio economic impact on the densely populated region downstream that sustains
more than 1.3 billion people in various river basins depending on Himalayan rivers.
Scientific evidence shows that most glaciers in the Himalayan region are retreating,
leading to concerns that over the time, the glaciers of the Hindu Kush Himalayas
will dwindle in size until normal glacier melt can no longer contribute to the region’s
water supply each year. In the east, glaciers receive most accumulation during summer from the Indian monsoon, whereas in the west they accumulate snow mostly in
winter through westerly atmospheric circulations. In addition, a strong northward
decrease in precipitation is caused by the extreme topography. Therefore, variability
in observed glacier changes within the region is large, and quantifying the current
glacier mass change and its impacts on sea-level rise, water resources and natural
hazards is hampered by lack of sufficiently distributed and accurate data.
The current study provides an overview of glacier mass waste in Svalbard, Arctic
and Chandra basin, Himalaya during last seventeen years from 2000 to 2017. In
spite of having contrasting climate, Arctic and Himalaya with high latitude and low
latitude glacierized region of Northern Hemisphere respectively, the glaciers in both
the regions are experiencing enhanced melting.
2 Study Area
The Svalbard archipelago covering an area of 62,248 km
2
with ice volume 11,000 km
3
(Hagen et al. 1993) is the northernmost landmass in the European Arctic (Fig. 1a). It
has a variety of small- and medium-sized glaciers and ice caps (2100) which cover a
total area of 34,600 km
2
(60% of entire area), which is about 6% of the worldwide
Glacier Response to Climate in Arctic and Himalaya During Last Seventeen Years…