Himalayan glaciers melting "will have no impact on the rivers of Asia"
Kathmandu (AsiaNews
/ Agencies) - The Baltoro and the Langtang, the two glaciers that feed the Indus and Ganges rivers, could halve over the next century. This is stated
by many scientists who think that
global warming over the next 100 years have a significant impact on the proportions of the two major
waterways in South Asia.
Walter Immerzal, a Dutch scholar at the University of Utrecht, carried out a double computerized simulation of the melting of the two Himalayan glaciers, in a case of moderate and strong global warming. Although in both studies the two glaciers showed
a tendency to lose a great part of their volume from 2100 on, Immerzal
claimed that this did not prove it would affect the flow of the Indus and Ganges
rivers.
"In both cases glaciers will retreat, but net
glacier melt run-off is on a rising limb at least until 2050," said the
scientist. "In combination with a positive change in precipitation, water
availability this century is not likely to decline. We conclude that river
basins that depend on monsoon rains and glacier melt will continue to sustain
the increasing water demands"