The Alarming Rate of Himalayan Glacier Loss Revealed.

New research using satellite data has found that ice loss from Himalayan glaciers that flow into lakes has been underestimated by 6.5% on average. The traditional method of estimating ice loss does not account for any ice loss that occurs below the surface of a lake. The study found that proglacial lakes in the region increased by 47% in number, 33% in area, and 42% in volume between 2000 and 2020, equating to glacier mass loss of around 2.7 Gt. This has critical implications for predicting the demise of the region’s glaciers and for managing critical water resources.