As things stand, the scientists are not baffled over the recent breaking of a part of glacier in Gomukh. However, they ascertain that it has happened a little before the expected time. In general, as a routine activity, the glaciers break by the end of July or in the first week of August. The rising temperatures globally and less snowfall year after year has resulted in this untimely activity, say the scientists. Glaciers calve icebergs at certain times when monsoon is at its peak, with chunks of snow breaking off from glaciers and falling into water. But this time it is a bit early, the scientists say.
National Institute of Hydrology in Roorkee has been constantly monitoring the Gomukh glaciers for the past many years. A senior scientist of NIH from surface water department, Dr Manohar Arora who is engaged in study of Gomukh glacier along with his team since 2000 says, “It is a normal routine for any glacier to break which we witness every year. About 15 years ago, one could observe 6.5 ft snow formation on a glacier but this layer of snow has come down to just 4.5 ft nowadays. As a matter of principle when the fresh layer of snow becomes thin, the base of glacier would develop crevices and start melting fast. This process is called negative mass balancing which means that the glacier is shrinking.”
The impact of global warming on the hydrological cycle results in significant change in the nature of occurrence of hydrological events in time and space, resulting ultimately in uneven distribution of available water, say the scientists.
Dr Arora said during their study, the team of scientists had found that earlier, November used to witness huge amount of snowfall. “But in the past few years, the pattern of snowfall has altered. Now February witnesses good snowfall, delayed by three months,” he said. However NIH director Rajdev Singh does not consider this change in the pattern of snowfall as permanent. “This situation can change any time. Then the existing process of glaciers gaining negative mass balance would convert to positive mass balance activity,” said Singh.