Abstract
The glaciers are fragile and dynamic in nature and influence the climate system (e.g. albedo feedback) and as well as key indicator of climate change. The reduction in mass, volume, area and length of glaciers are considered as clear signals of a warmer climate. Uttarakhand Himalaya contains 968 glaciers out of the total 9,575 glaciers in Indian part of the Himalaya, covering an area of 2,888.37 km2 with 213.74 km3 of ice volume lies between the altitudes 6,600 and 3,860 m with different dimensions. The observations made during the end of nineteenth century over the Uttarakhand Himalayan glaciers indicate that there is continuous retreat of glaciers but rate of retreat are different to different glaciers. In this study, the results of a detailed mapping campaign and ground-based measurements of terminus retreat, area vacated and mass/volume change has been carried out on few glaciers for the period between 1962 and 2010. The study shows continuous negative mass balance on Tipra , Dunagiri , Dokriani and Chorabari glaciers during last three decades. In general, Uttarakhand Himalayan glaciers are under substantial thinning (Mass loss) and reduction of length and area in the present climate conditions.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Prof. A.K. Gupta, Director, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), Dehra Dun, India for providing facilities and ample support to carry out this work. We are also thankful to Department of Science and Technology, Government of India for funding.
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Dobhal, D.P., Pratap, B. (2015). Variable Response of Glaciers to Climate Change in Uttarakhand Himalaya, India. In: Joshi, R., Kumar, K., Palni, L. (eds) Dynamics of Climate Change and Water Resources of Northwestern Himalaya. Society of Earth Scientists Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13743-8_12
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