Climate Change and the Gangotri Glacier System

• A study reconstructed the long-term discharge flow of the Gangotri Glacier System (GGS), the source of the upper Ganga basin, which contributes to the waters of the Bhagirathi river in the central Himalayas.

• The study, ‘Hydrological Contributions of Snow and Glacier Melt from the Gangotri Glacier System and Their Climatic Controls Since 1980’, aims to fill the gap in assessing river flow and delineating the contribution of snow melt and precipitation.

• The study used a high-resolution glacio-hydrological model, Spatial Processes in Hydrology (SPHY), and the Indian Monsoon Data Assimilation and Analysis (IMDAA) dataset spanning 1980–2020.

• The study found that maximum GGS discharge occurs during the summer months, with a peak in July at 129 cubic metre per second.

• The mean annual GGS discharge was estimated as 28±1.9 m3 /s, with the major contribution from snow melt (64%), followed by glacier melt (21%), rainfall-runoff (11%) and base flow (4%) over 1980– 2020.

• Despite the warming, snow melt declined, mainly due to a decreasing trend in mean snow cover area, whereas rainfall-runoff and base flow increased over GGS during 1980– 2020.

• The mean annual discharge of GGS is mainly controlled by summer precipitation, followed by winter temperature.

• The study area of the GGS comprises the glaciers Meru, Raktavaran, Chattangi, and the largest glacier Gangotri.

Climate Threat to Gangotri is important topic for Civil service exam (WBCS).

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