Glacier-Glacial Lake Interactions and Glacial Lake Development in the Central Himalaya, India (1994-2017)

Despite several regional glacier and glacier lake inventories, the relationship between receding glacier, glacial lake evolution (glacial-lake interactions) and their sensitivity to different forcing factors have not been properly understood yet. To better understand these processes, we used satellite images collected in 1994, 2015 and 2017 to monitor the spatially-explicit evolution of glacial lakes and glacier changes. The results show a total of 1 353 glacial lakes covering an area of 7.96 km(2) in the year 2015. Out of these, a total of 137 glacial lakes having an area of >0.01 km(2) and located within 2 km periphery of mother glacier have been selected for the monitoring of spatial development between 1994 and 2017. We found an increase in the total lake area from similar to 4.9 to similar to 7.73 km(2) between 1994 and 2017, corresponding to an overall expansion of similar to 57%. The total area covered by the glaciers associated with these lakes reduced from similar to 365 km(2) in 1994 to similar to 358 km(2) in 2017, accounting for a glacier loss of similar to 7 km(2) and corresponding to similar to 1.92% reduction. Our study results are in agreement with global glacier behavior, revealing a rapid glacier recession and accelerated glacial lake expansion under an unprecedented climate change scenario. In addition, the results suggest a significant reduction in the glacier area and a close relationship between the glacier melting and lake changes.

Automated summary

The study identified the relationship between the growth of glacial lakes and the reduction of glaciers in recent years, showing an increase in glacial lake area and a decrease in glacier area in response to global climate change.