Latest news with #AndriSnaerMagnason
Free Malaysia Today
21-05-2025
- Science
- Free Malaysia Today
Nepal holds tribute for disappearing glacier
Dozens of trekkers fly prayer flags as Buddhist monks perform a ceremony for the preservation of the fast-shrinking Yala glacier. (AFP pic) KATHMANDU : Dozens trekked to Nepal's Yala glacier for a ceremony Monday to mark its rapid disappearance due to climate change and put a spotlight on global glacial retreat. The Yala glacier, located between 5,170 and 5,750 metres above sea level, is in the Langtang Valley in northern Nepal. Since 1974, the glacier has shrunk in area by 66% and retreated 784 metres, according to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). Scientists warn it may eventually disappear by the 2040s if the warming trend continues, and might be among the first in Nepal to join the growing numbers of glaciers declared 'dead' worldwide. 'In the 40 years I have studied this glacier, I have seen it halve with my own eyes. We worry that the next generation might not be able to see it,' Sharad Prasad Joshi, a cryosphere specialist at ICIMOD, told AFP. Prayer flags fluttered Monday as Buddhist monks performed a ceremony for Yala, with the Himalayas towering behind them. Two granite plaques were unveiled engraved with memorial messages in Nepali, English and Tibetan. 'This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it,' part of the message in one of the plaques read. The words were by Icelandic writer Andri Snaer Magnason, whose message is also at the site of the world's first glacier funeral in Iceland. Glacier funerals have also been held in Mexico, the United States and Switzerland. The ceremony comes as the world marked near-record high global temperatures in April, according to the EU's climate monitor. In its latest bulletin, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said that April was the second-hottest in its dataset, which draws on billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations. All but one of the last 22 months exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the warming limit enshrined in the Paris agreement, beyond which major and lasting climate and environmental changes become more likely. 'Time to act' Yala is one of seven glaciers in the 3,500-kilometre-long arc of the Hindu Kush Himalayas to have been monitored annually for a decade or more, according to ICIMOD. Joshi said that the ceremony was also to honour the glacier as it has been an 'open textbook' for young researchers and glaciologists. Himalayan glaciers, providing critical water to nearly two billion people, are melting faster than ever before due to climate change, exposing communities to unpredictable and costly disasters. Experts say that on current melt rates, many glaciers worldwide will not survive the 21st century. Last month, the United Nations said that all 19 of the world's glacier regions experienced a net loss of mass in 2024 for the third consecutive year. Together, they lost 450 billion tonnes of mass, the organisation said, citing new data from the Swiss-based World Glacier Monitoring Service. Maheshwar Dhakal, chief at the Nepal government's climate change management division, said in a statement shared by ICIMOD that Nepal is at the frontlines of the impacts of temperature rise despite minimal emissions. 'We are urging world leaders to pay attention to the changes in mountain glaciers, such as Yala, because our own fate, and futures, is bound up in those of our frozen freshwater reserves,' Dhakal said. 'Glacier loss is irreversible on human timescales. The time to act is now.'
Korea Herald
13-05-2025
- Science
- Korea Herald
Nepal holds tribute for disappearing glacier
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) — Dozens trekked to Nepal's Yala glacier for a ceremony Monday to mark its rapid disappearance due to climate change and put a spotlight on global glacial retreat. The Yala glacier, located between 5,170 and 5,750 meters above sea level, is in the Langtang Valley in northern Nepal. Since 1974, the glacier has shrunk in area by 66 percent and retreated 784 meters, according to the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development. Scientists warn it may eventually disappear by the 2040s if the warming trend continues, and might be among the first in Nepal to join the growing numbers of glaciers declared "dead" worldwide. "In the 40 years I have studies this glacier, I have seen it halve with my own eyes. We worry that the next generation might not be able to see it," Sharad Prasad Joshi, a cryosphere specialist at ICIMOD, told Agence France-Presse. Prayer flags fluttered Monday as Buddhist monks performed a ceremony for Yala, with the Himalayas towering behind them. Two granite plaques were unveiled engraved with memorial messages in Nepali, English and Tibetan. "This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it," part of the message in one of the plaques read. The words were by Icelandic writer Andri Snaer Magnason, whose message is also at the site of the world's first glacier funeral in Iceland. Glacier funerals have also been held in Mexico, the United States and Switzerland. The ceremony comes as the world marked near-record high global temperatures in April, according to the EU's climate monitor. In its latest bulletin, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said that April was the second-hottest in its dataset, which draws on billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations. All but one of the last 22 months exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the warming limit enshrined in the Paris agreement, beyond which major and lasting climate and environmental changes become more likely. Time to act Yala is one of seven glaciers in the 3,500 kilometer-long arc of the Hindu Kush Himalayas to have been monitored annually for a decade or more, according to ICIMOD. Joshi said that the ceremony was also to honour the glacier as it has been an "open textbook" for young researchers and glaciologists. Himalayan glaciers, providing critical water to nearly two billion people, are melting faster than ever before due to climate change, exposing communities to unpredictable and costly disasters. Experts say that on current melt rates, many glaciers worldwide will not survive the 21st century. Last month, the United Nations said that all 19 of the world's glacier regions experienced a net loss of mass in 2024 for the third consecutive year. Together, they lost 450 billion tonnes of mass, the organization said, citing new data from the Swiss-based World Glacier Monitoring Service. Maheshwar Dhakal, chief at the Nepal government's climate change management division, said in a statement shared by ICIMOD that Nepal is at the frontlines of the impacts of temperature rise despite minimal emissions. "We are urging world leaders to pay attention to the changes in mountain glaciers, such as Yala, because our own fate, and futures, is bound up in those of our frozen freshwater reserves," Dhakal said. "Glacier loss is irreversible on human timescales. The time to act is now."
Hindustan Times
12-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Glaciologists, local communities mourn loss of Nepal's Yala glacier
New Delhi: Glaciologists and local communities mourned the loss of Nepal's Yala glacier, believed to be the first Nepalese glacier to be declared 'dead'. Locals and glaciologists from four countries — Nepal, India, China and Bhutan — in the Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH) gathered to mark the accelerating disappearance of Nepal's Yala Glacier in Langtang, Nepal on Monday according to a statement by Kathmandu based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). Yala is the first glacier in Asia and the third glacier worldwide to carry a plaque with words by author, Andri Snaer Magnason in its memory. Plaques bearing his message also sit at the site of the world's first glacier funeral, which took place in Magnason's native Iceland in 2019, for OK Glacier, and at the site of the funeral for Ayoloco glacier in Mexico in 2021. Funerals have also been held for the Swiss Pizol glacier in 2019, Clark glacier in Oregon in 2020, and Basodino glacier in Switzerland in 2021. In 2021, ICIMOD, with the United Nations, marked the disappearance of Lemthang Glacier, in Bhutan, which was wiped out by a glacial lake outburst flood in 2017. The stones left at the base of the Yala glacier carry messages by two authors, Manjushree Thapa and Andri Snaer Magnason, in English, Nepali and locally spoken Tibetan. Magnason's inscription reads: 'A message to the future: Yala glacier is one of 54,000 glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalayas, most of which are expected to vanish this century due to global warming. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it. May 2025 426ppm CO2 [parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere].' Thapa's inscription reads: 'Yala, where the gods dream high in the mountains, where the cold is divine. Dream of life in rock, sediment, and snow, in the pulverising of ice and earth, in meltwater pools the colour of sky. Dream. Dream of a glacier and the civilisations downstream. Entire ecosystems: our own sustenance. The cosmos. And all that we know and all that we love.' Yala has shrunk by 66% and retreated 784m since it was first measured in the 1970s. Over 50 people, including Buddhist monks and members of local community, and glacier experts from Bhutan, China, India, and Nepal completed the arduous high-altitude trek to attend the 'poignant' tribute on May 12, according to ICIMOD. The prayer meet featured a Buddhist ceremony, speeches, and the unveiling of the two granite memorial plaques which will sit at the foot of where the glacier stands. Yala is notable not just for its rapid retreat and for the central role it has played in advancing cryosphere research in a region that is known for lacking research capacity. Yala is one of just seven glaciers in the entire 3,500km-long arc of the Hindu Kush Himalayas to have been monitored annually for a decade or more and it is one of 38 glaciers with in-situ measurements, providing crucial data on the speed and extent of losses. 'Earth's mountains have lost close to nine trillion tonnes of ice since records began in 1975 — the equivalent of a 2.72-metre thick block of ice the size of India. On current melt rates, many glaciers worldwide will not survive the 21st century,' ICIMOD said. 'I've trekked the mountains of the Himalayas for decades. The pace and scale of the deglaciation and loss of snowpack happening now, and which I've seen with my own eyes, is truly breathtaking. While this thawing is currently upping the water available for Asia's major economies and huge urban centres, we know this water is set to decline from mid-century — just 25 years from now. This has major implications for this region,' said Shyam Saran, former foreign secretary and special envoy for and chief negotiator on climate change for India who is presently in Nepal. 'Tragically, the issues that divide us today, and which are rightly commanding so much global attention right now, are set to be dwarfed by the kinds of disasters we'll be facing if we don't recognise our interconnectedness with the ecological systems that support us, and act together, for our common future, now,' he added. HT reported on April 21 that snow persistence in the Ganga basin this year has been 24.1% below normal — the lowest in the past 23 years, vis-a-vis 30.2% above normal (the highest) in 2015 — which could lead to reduced flows in early summer, as per ICIMOD. Snow persistence over the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region has plummeted to a 23-year record low, registering a staggering 23.6% fall from the long-term average. This unprecedented level of reduced snow cover, which measures the fraction of time snow remains on the ground after snowfall, underscores a significant and growing threat to water security of nearly 2 billion people who are dependent on the HKH's river systems, ICIMOD said, adding that the alarming statistic is compounded by the fact that 2025 marks the third consecutive year of below-normal seasonal snow across the region. On March 21, World Meteorological Organisation said the period between 2022 and 2024 witnessed the largest three-year loss of glacier mass on record. 'This is an important glacier because it has been used as a training site and over 100 glaciologists are trained on this glacier. In terms of its importance for water, it is a small glacier so not that significant for water downstream. However, as it is melting quite rapidly. So, the field data is highlighted with unprecedented details that how climate change is affecting glaciers,' said Sher Muhammad, remote sensing Specialist at ICIMOD.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Nepal holds tribute for disappearing glacier
Dozens trekked to Nepal's Yala glacier for a ceremony Monday to mark its rapid disappearance due to climate change and put a spotlight on global glacial retreat. The Yala glacier, located between 5,170 and 5,750 metres above sea level, is in the Langtang Valley in northern Nepal. Since 1974, the glacier has shrunk in area by 66 percent and retreated 784 meters, according to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development(ICIMOD). Scientists warn it may eventually disappear by the 2040s if the warming trend continues, and might be among the first in Nepal to join the growing numbers of glaciers declared "dead" worldwide. "In the 40 years I have studies this glacier, I have seen it halve with my own eyes. We worry that the next generation might not be able to see it," Sharad Prasad Joshi, a cryosphere specialist at ICIMOD, told AFP. Prayer flags fluttered Monday as Buddhist monks performed a ceremony for Yala, with the Himalayas towering behind them. Two granite plaques were unveiled engraved with memorial messages in Nepali, English and Tibetan. "This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it," part of the message in one of the plaques read. The words were by Icelandic writer Andri Snaer Magnason, whose message is also at the site of the world's first glacier funeral in Iceland. Glacier funerals have also been held in Mexico, the United States and Switzerland. The ceremony comes as the world marked near-record high global temperatures in April, according to the EU's climate monitor. In its latest bulletin, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said that April was the second-hottest in its dataset, which draws on billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations. All but one of the last 22 months exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the warming limit enshrined in the Paris agreement, beyond which major and lasting climate and environmental changes become more likely. -'Time to act'- Yala is one of seven glaciers in the 3,500 kilometre-long arc of the Hindu Kush Himalayas to have been monitored annually for a decade or more, according to ICIMOD. Joshi said that the ceremony was also to honour the glacier as it has been an "open textbook" for young researchers and glaciologists. Himalayan glaciers, providing critical water to nearly two billion people, are melting faster than ever before due to climate change, exposing communities to unpredictable and costly disasters. Experts say that on current melt rates, many glaciers worldwide will not survive the 21st century. Last month, the United Nations said that all 19 of the world's glacier regions experienced a net loss of mass in 2024 for the third consecutive year. Together, they lost 450 billion tonnes of mass, the organization said, citing new data from the Swiss-based World Glacier Monitoring Service. Maheshwar Dhakal, chief at the Nepal government's climate change management division, said in a statement shared by ICIMOD that Nepal is at the frontlines of the impacts of temperature rise despite minimal emissions. "We are urging world leaders to pay attention to the changes in mountain glaciers, such as Yala, because our own fate, and futures, is bound up in those of our frozen freshwater reserves," Dhakal said. "Glacier loss is irreversible on human timescales. The time to act is now." pm/bjt
France 24
12-05-2025
- Science
- France 24
Nepal holds tribute for disappearing glacier
The Yala glacier, located between 5,170 and 5,750 metres above sea level, is in the Langtang Valley in northern Nepal. Since 1974, the glacier has shrunk in area by 66 percent and retreated 784 meters, according to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development(ICIMOD). Scientists warn it may eventually disappear by the 2040s if the warming trend continues, and might be among the first in Nepal to join the growing numbers of glaciers declared "dead" worldwide. "In the 40 years I have studies this glacier, I have seen it halve with my own eyes. We worry that the next generation might not be able to see it," Sharad Prasad Joshi, a cryosphere specialist at ICIMOD, told AFP. Prayer flags fluttered Monday as Buddhist monks performed a ceremony for Yala, with the Himalayas towering behind them. Two granite plaques were unveiled engraved with memorial messages in Nepali, English and Tibetan. "This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it," part of the message in one of the plaques read. The words were by Icelandic writer Andri Snaer Magnason, whose message is also at the site of the world's first glacier funeral in Iceland. Glacier funerals have also been held in Mexico, the United States and Switzerland. The ceremony comes as the world marked near-record high global temperatures in April, according to the EU's climate monitor. In its latest bulletin, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said that April was the second-hottest in its dataset, which draws on billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations. All but one of the last 22 months exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the warming limit enshrined in the Paris agreement, beyond which major and lasting climate and environmental changes become more likely. -'Time to act'- Yala is one of seven glaciers in the 3,500 kilometre-long arc of the Hindu Kush Himalayas to have been monitored annually for a decade or more, according to ICIMOD. Joshi said that the ceremony was also to honour the glacier as it has been an "open textbook" for young researchers and glaciologists. Himalayan glaciers, providing critical water to nearly two billion people, are melting faster than ever before due to climate change, exposing communities to unpredictable and costly disasters. Experts say that on current melt rates, many glaciers worldwide will not survive the 21st century. Last month, the United Nations said that all 19 of the world's glacier regions experienced a net loss of mass in 2024 for the third consecutive year. Together, they lost 450 billion tonnes of mass, the organization said, citing new data from the Swiss-based World Glacier Monitoring Service. Maheshwar Dhakal, chief at the Nepal government's climate change management division, said in a statement shared by ICIMOD that Nepal is at the frontlines of the impacts of temperature rise despite minimal emissions. "We are urging world leaders to pay attention to the changes in mountain glaciers, such as Yala, because our own fate, and futures, is bound up in those of our frozen freshwater reserves," Dhakal said.
