Need for Permafrost Researches in Indian Himalaya

Permafrost is an integral, but hardly ever studied, component of cryosphere in the Indian Himalayan. Despite the fact that a considerable area of the Indian Himalaya is underlain by frozen ground (permafrost) which is highly sensitive to climate change, scientific data on its degradation and environmental effects are lacking. Meteorological air temperature data has shown an increase in the global average temperatures and more importantly the rise of temperature in the Himalaya has been reported to be double than the global averages. This has resulted in the permafrost thawing and increase in the instability of the rock slopes in steep areas. Therefore, it is indispensable to study and generate scientific data on permafrost, covering wider geographical and ecological domains of the Indian Himalaya and use multiple parameters that directly or indirectly influence the permafrost.