201. False Alarm over the Retreat of the Himalayan Glaciers
- Author:
- Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar and Vijay K. Raina
- Publication Date:
- 05-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Many activists and journalists warn that rapidly melting Himalayan glaciers due to global warming will have catastrophic consequences. The glaciers have been melting since the end of the last ice age 11,700 years ago, but the melting has not worsened recently. Satellite studies suggest that the vast majority of glaciers in the Himalayas are stable, a minority are shrinking, and a few are advancing. The retreat of the Gangotri Glacier, the source of the Ganges River, has decelerated in recent decades to 10 meters (33 feet) per year, at which rate it will last 3,000 years.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, and Glaciers
- Political Geography:
- Himalayas