CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -Atmospheric warming is the main driver of glacier melt in the Hindu Kush Himalayas-temperatures here, as at the poles, are rising faster than the global average. But local topography and other factors may also be shaping the pace of retreat, scientists say.

Detailed explanation-2: -WHICH GLACIERS IN INDIA ARE MELTING? The Ministry of Earth Sciences said that the mean retreat rate of Hindu Kush Himalayan glaciers is 14.9-15.1 meters per year, which is 12.7-13.2 meters per year in Indus, 15.5-14.4 meters per year in Ganga, and 20.2-19.7 meters per year in Brahmaputra river basins.

Detailed explanation-3: -Melting glaciers have significant impact on water resources of Himalayan rivers due to change in glacier basin hydrology, downstream water budget, impact on hydropower plants due to variation in discharge, flash flood and sedimentation.

Detailed explanation-4: -Researchers found that the Himalayan glaciers have lost about 40% of their area in the last several hundred years, or an estimated 390 to 586 cubic kilometers of ice - enough to raise global sea levels 0.92 to 1.38 millimeters.