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Sensitive response of glaciers to changing climate in the Yankti Kuti valley, Kumaon Himalaya, India, between 1990 and 2021

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Abstract

This study provides the first comprehensive account of the glaciation of the Yankti Kuti valley of the upper Kali Ganga catchment of the Kumaon Himalaya, Uttarakhand. Employing multi-year satellite images from 1990 to 2021, the study investigated the loss of glacial area, ice volume, snout recession, and the changes in the equilibrium line altitude (ELA) in the Yankti Kuti Valley. The investigation showed an overall reduction of ~ 21 km2 (~ 21%) of the total glacier area of the basin. The basin witnesses an ice volume loss of ~ 23% and ~ 41 m upward shifting of the equilibrium line altitude (ELA) between 1990 and 2021. The retreat rate of the four studied glaciers shows ranges from ~ 18 to 41 m/year. The glaciers in the valley are melting at a significant rate due to global warming, giving rise to the increasing number of pro-glacial lakes in the study area from 04 in 1990 to 10 in 2021 and making them vulnerable to glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) in the future. The study, therefore, calls for continued glacier monitoring in the upper Kali Ganga catchment in order to assess the future response of the Himalayan cryosphere and to make robust quantitative assessments about the sustainable mitigation and adaptation strategies in the lower valleys.

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Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank the Director of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, India, for his continuous support and provision of the necessary resources. The author is grateful to the Editor and anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions which helped me to improve the manuscript. I express my profound gratitude towards Prof. Y. P. Sundriyal, Dr. Navin Juyal, Dr. Pradeep Srivastava, and Prof. Lewis Owen for their constant support and encouragement.

Funding

This work was supported by Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi under National Post Doc Fellowship (PDF/2016/003113).

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  1. Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, 33 GMS Road, Dehradun, 248001, India

    Pinkey Bisht

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Pinkey Bisht conceived the idea, did the fieldwork, carried out the remote sensing data analysis, and wrote the manuscript.

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Bisht, P. Sensitive response of glaciers to changing climate in the Yankti Kuti valley, Kumaon Himalaya, India, between 1990 and 2021. Environ Monit Assess 195, 1024 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11592-0

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