By Alex Hyde The sub-tropical glaciers of Bhutan Bhutan is a small mountainous nation located in the Eastern Himalaya, with a population of around 727 000 people (Figure 1). The country has a sub-tropical climate in its south, where it borders lowland plains, and a Himalayan subalpine climate to the north where it meets the …
By Alex Hyde Why is understanding glacier velocity important? In the Himalayas, and world-wide, climate change is driving glacier retreat. In some mountain regions like the Himalayas, this climate change is also resulting in large scale changes in glacier ice-flow dynamics and velocity (1-2), which is impacting glacier response to climate change. Measuring these changes …
By Caroline Taylor What is a glacial lake outburst flood? Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) refer to the sudden release of meltwater and sediment from a dammed lake1. Across the globe there are many types of glacial lake dams, including moraine-dams, ice-dams, bedrock-dams, and landslide-dams 2, all of which can produce GLOFs. Why are …
Increasing risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) Read More »
By Gunjan Silwal, Newcastle University There are many ways to study glaciers and their behaviour. We can observe glaciers through satellites and aerial photographs, we can measure velocity, volume and area changes, and we can observe glacier structures. But visiting glaciers, and working directly on them during fieldwork, offers scientists an opportunity to directly observe …
