Shrinking Glaciers Due to Climate Change May Increase the Risk of Flooding

                

Climate change is real and the fact that glaciers around the world are shrinking due to climate change is known to all of us. The melting of huge icecaps and the creation of glacial lakes around the world are imposing major threats to the environment, to an extent where the possibility of flooding in low lying areas is very much likely to follow. 

According to a new study based on satellite data, the number of lakes originated due to the worldwide glacier melt has increased by more than half its limit in 30 years.  

Dan Sugar who is a geomorphologist and associate professor at the University of Calgary addressed the issue of rising water levels caused due to glacial lakes. He stated that they had identified that not all the meltwater is making it into the oceans immediately but until now there was "no data to gauge how much of it was being deposited in lakes or groundwater.”  It is also very hard to establish where all that water is going. 

These lakes are forming because the ice itself is restraining the meltwater from the glaciers to drain out. The water gets collected on the caps, in front, nearby, or even beneath a glacier and poses a high risk. According to the data collected by Sugar and his associates, it is said that since 1990, the volume of water that these lakes hold has risen by almost 50 percent. 

Imagine a cube of icy cold water which is approximately 5.5 kilometers long, wide, and high, that is the amount of water collected in these lakes. It roughly sums up to an unbelievable - 158 cubic kilometers. 

In India, Himalayan areas are more prone to the diverse effects of these lakes. The glacial lakes sit alongside villages and communities and if the water levels keep rising, there is a possibility that these areas would be flooded completely. 

“The dangers aren’t as great (as the Himalayas) in western North America. But they certainly aren’t nulling. And when they go, they go unquestionably gargantuan,” Sugar described. Canadian glacial lakes, as well as lakes located in the less populated area of Greenland, are swelling as well. 

Nature Climate Change published these findings on Monday and suggested that it will help experts and political authorities to recognize possible threats to the areas near these unstable lakes. It will also help in the understanding of how quickly the glacial water is making it to the sea.

For more Valuable Insights, 

Check out our Site: https://wanderersthoughts.in/ 

Blog: https://www.arjunblog.com/

ARJUN