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Kyrgyzstan: Melting glaciers cause concern
Kyrgyzstan: Melting glaciers cause concern
(FRANCEINFO)
In Kyrgyzstan, the snow on the glaciers is melting faster and faster due to global warming. This is all the more worrying given that 2024 is the hottest year on record.
Glaciologist Goulbara Omorova has known these trails by heart since she moved to a small house in the Tien-Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan, the highest scientific station in Central Asia. She has been studying the Adygene Glacier for four years. Today, she is worried. “From here, you could see the glacier very well, even in the middle of summer. It was very imposing at that time. It has now almost disappeared, everything has accelerated in the last three years”she laments.
The snow is melting very quickly. Goulbara Omorova took the temperature of these natural lakes: over 4°C at the end of summer, something never seen before. She also measured the depth of the ice. You don’t need very sophisticated equipment to see the extent of the damage caused by global warming. Since 1960, the Adygene glacier has retreated by over 900 meters. Since 2024 is the warmest year on record, the consequences will be even more visible. In the immense mountain ranges of Central Asia, the surface area of glaciers could be reduced by half by 2050.