Global warming is on an all-time high?-- causing ice to melt in the poles and rising water levels. And a new research reveals that this is could soon be affecting around 5000 lakes in the Himalayas.?
A team of researchers have created simulations and found the lake¡¯s levees (barriers) could burst soon as the ice on the Himalayan glaciers is melting and causing the water levels in the lakes to rise.
The reason the barriers can easily burst open is because these are made naturally with loose rock and dirt. It is held together with the glaciers around it. Rising temperatures are causing the glaciers to melt, resulting in the barriers to losing its structural integrity.
The model revealed that around 5000 lakes in the Himalayas are in danger of bursting that could severely affect the lives of people around it.
The study was conducted by three researchers from the University of Potsdam. They ran 5.4 billion simulations based on lake models that were formulated using topographic and satellite data. They¡¯ve also discovered that these lakes have the highest volume of water.
Another study conducted in June by a team at Columbia University discovered that global warming has doubled the pace of melting of glaciers in the Himalayas over the last decade with each area expected to lose as much water as 3.2 million Olympic swimming pools each year.
As per the study, (based on satellite observations across India, China, Nepal and Bhutan) since the year 2000, glaciers have lost around 20 inches of ice each year -- twice than what was witnessed between 1975 and 2000.
In case you were thinking that melting glaciers and overflowing lakes doesn¡¯t concern India, you couldn¡¯t be more wrong. India¡¯s largest river, Ganga, originates from Manasarovar in the Himalayas.?
This overflowing will trickle down to Ganga and can easily flood areas surrounding it, affecting the lives of over 400 million people that live around the world¡¯s most populated river basin.