Thinning Of Kashmir Glaciers "Alarming"; Flows Of Nearly All Indian Kashmir Rivers Off 2/3 In 40 Yrs

Himalayan glaciers in Indian Kashmir at "alarming" speeds, threatening water supplies to vast tracts of India and Pakistan, according to a new study. The Kolahoi glacier, the largest in the region, has shrunk by 2.63 square kilometers (one square mile) in the past three decades to just over 11 square kilometers, said the study presented at a three-day international workshop on climate change that began Monday in the Kashmiri summer capital Srinagar.

Himalayan glaciers feed into Asia's nine largest rivers that flow to China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

The Kolahoi glacier is shrinking 0.08 square kilometers a year, "which is an alarming speed", said the three-year study led by Shakil Ramsoo, associate professor of geology at Kashmir University. "Other small Kashmir glaciers are also shrinking and the main reason is that the winter temperature in Kashmir is rising," said the study, citing an increase of 1.1 degrees Celsius over the past 100 years.

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Water levels in almost all the rivers in Indian Kashmir have decreased by two-thirds during the last 40 years.

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http://www.terradaily.com/2007/091013082231.tzeib16y.html

this could be a bad thing.