Climate change: New study reveals Machoi glacier in Kashmir has receded by 29%

Srinagar: A new research has revealed that the Machoi glacier in Kashmir has lost 29 percent of its area since 1972.

Conducted by the Department of Geo-informatics, University of Kashmir, the study has revealed that the Satellite data shows a 29 percent loss in the area of Machoi glacier from 1972 to 2019.

Titled “Retreat of Machoi glacier, Kashmir Himalaya between 1972 and 2019 using remote sensing methods and field observations”, the 2021 study has been published in Science of the Total Environment, an internationally acclaimed journal.

Glaciers in the northwestern Himalayan region of Jammu and Kashmir are retreating at higher rates as compared to other parts of the Himalayan arc. This study assessed area changes, frontal retreat, and geodetic mass balance of the Machoi glacier interspersed between the Greater Himalayan mountain range of Kashmir and Zanskar from 1972 to 2019.

Machoi glacier is located in the Drass region towards the northeast of Ladakh in the northeastern Himalayan region. The glacier is located between elevations 3762 meters above sea level and 5050 meters above sea level and has a mean elevation of 4800 meters above sea level.

The name Machoi has been derived from two Kashmiri words (Mech meaning Fly/dirt and Hoi meaning bowl). Machoi peak (5458 meters above sea level), a pyramid-shaped peak, marks the accumulation zone of the glacier.

The findings show that the Machoi glacier has lost 29 percent of its area and it is losing its area 0.61 percent on average per year.

Senior Assistant Professor Department of Geoinformatics, Dr. Irfan Rashid told The Kashmir Monitor that the research is a combination of “satellite remote sensing and field studies”.

“Glaciers primarily melt due to climate change and depleted precipitation. The Machoi glacier largely falls in the greater Himalayan range of Kashmir. We tried to find out whether this glacier is retreating at a similar rate like Kolahoi,” he said.

Rashid said the glacier is one of the originating streams from where the Drass river flows.

“People who live downstream are fed by this glacier. Hence, it is important. If this glacier melts at an alarming rate, the stream flow will get impacted. The people who are dependent on the streamflow will suffer immensely,” he said.

Besides climate change, the Machoi glacier shares proximity with the Srinagar-Kargil Highway and directly bears the brunt of automobile emissions.

“Its distance from the highway will not be more than 500 meters. The automobile emissions directly fall on the surface of Machoi. As a result, the reflectivity of the glacier over some time has gone down,” Rashid said.

He said auto emission releases soot that is unburnt carbon, which is black and falls on the ice.

 “This eventually leads the ice to trap more heat and thereby more melting,” he said.

Moreover, it is the first study physically characterizing glacier “cryoconite holes” in Kashmir Himalaya.

“Since Machoi glacier is close to the road, the unburnt carbon gets deposited on its surface. Besides, there is rock fracturing and the debris gets deposited. Over a course of time, there are certain suitable niches where aerosol and unburnt carbon along with debris gets deposited in small holes. Microbial life can thrive in these places and when these organisms respire, it emits heat, thereby resulting in the melting of the glacier. We have seen such cryoconite holes from 1 to 10 cm on the glacier,”

Rashid pointed out that to prevent further retreating of the glacier, the broad spectrum of glaciers needs to be targeted.

“Pollution sources need to be curbed by using alternative sources of fuel. For example, diesel buses and trucks can be replaced by CNG vehicles. This can be achieved at a central governmental level,” he said.