Himalayan glaciers experienced significant mass loss during later phases of little ice age

Abstract

To date, there is a gap in the data about the state and mass balance of glaciers in the climate-sensitive subtropical regions during the Little Ice Age (LIA). Here, based on an unprecedented tree-ring sampling coverage, we present the longest reconstructed mass balance record for the Western Himalayan glaciers, dating to 1615. Our results confirm that the later phase of LIA was substantially briefer and weaker in the Himalaya than in the Arctic and subarctic regions. Furthermore, analysis of the time-series of the mass-balance against other time-series shows clear evidence of the existence of (i) a significant glacial decay and a significantly weaker magnitude of glaciation during the latter half of the LIA; (ii) a weak regional mass balance dependence on either the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) or the Total Solar Irradiance (TSI) taken in isolation, but a considerable combined influence of both of them during the LIA; and (iii) in addition to anthropogenic climate change, the strong effect from the increased yearly concurrence of extremely high TSI with El Niño over the past five decades, resulting in severe glacial mass loss. The generated mass balance time-series can serve as a source of reliable reconstructed data to the scientific community.

Early Evidence of Shifts in Alpine Summit Vegetation: A Case Study From Kashmir Himalaya

“…Though some ambitious research efforts have been made in studying boreal and temperate alpine ecosystems, mainly in the northern hemisphere, some important alpine areas of the world, such as the Himalaya, have received little research attention. The Himalaya, sustaining the world's highest mountain peaks, undoubtedly is one of the most sensitive areas to climate warming (Immerzeel et al, 2010;Rowan, 2017;Shekhar et al, 2017). The Himalaya, being one of the global biodiversity hotspots, harbors diverse alpine flora (Myers et al, 2000;Dar and Khuroo, 2013).…”

Heterogeneity in topographic control on velocities of Western Himalayan glaciers

“…Although mountain glaciers constitute only ~3% of the global glacial area 2 , the need for precise areal and volumetric estimations of mountain glaciers is well established; they contribute immensely to sea-level rise, owing to their latitudinal vulnerability and rapid melting rates under present climate scenarios 2 – 5 . A particular need to focus on the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) glaciers arises because these glaciers represent ~50% (by area) 6 of all of the glaciers outside of the poles, and their meltwater sustains a downstream population of ~1.3 billion people 6 , 7 . The amplified occurrence of extreme weather events 8 and glacial disasters 9 – 12 in the HKH mountains further emphasise the need for extensive glacio-hydro-meteorological database generation and research in the coming years 13 .…”

Quantifying the Congruence between Air and Land Surface Temperatures for Various Climatic and Elevation Zones of Western Himalaya

“…The Himalayan mountains serve as a source of fresh water supply [30,31] and hydropower generation [32] to the densely populated mountainous regions of Indian Subcontinent. The Himalayan rivers mainly consist of the meltwaters coming from snow and glaciers [30] and this runoff is largely dependent on the seasonal temperatures [4,33]. The glaciers in Himalaya are losing mass in general with a few exceptions [29,33].…”

“…The Himalayan rivers mainly consist of the meltwaters coming from snow and glaciers [30] and this runoff is largely dependent on the seasonal temperatures [4,33]. The glaciers in Himalaya are losing mass in general with a few exceptions [29,33]. However, the quantification of the changes evident in glacierized regions in Himalaya with respect to the changing temperatures are largely uncertain due to unavailability of well-distributed and spatiotemporally continuous network of meteorological stations [29].…”