Afghanistan - Global Warming cause Himalayan glaciers to melt at an 'exceptional rate'

Almost half the glacial ice in the world's tallest mountain range will soon have disappeared compared to just a few centuries ago.

The world's“third pole” has shrunk at a breathtaking pace in recent decades as climate change has increased temperatures worldwide. 

A new peer-reviewed study finds that the accelerating melting of Himalayan glaciers is also outpacing the shrinkage of glaciers elsewhere in the world, putting them in a class scientists call“exceptional.”

“Our findings clearly show that ice is now being lost from Himalayan glaciers at a rate that is at least ten times higher than the average rate over past centuries,” said Jonathan Carrivick.

The Himalayan mountains are often referred to as the third pole because they hold the world's third-largest amount of glacier ice behind Antarctica and the Arctic.

Nearly 15,000 Himalayan glaciers to their size and state during the so-called Little Ice Age 400 to 700 years ago. They found that the total area occupied by ice has shrunk by around 40% from its peak to today. 

The total amount of ice melted equals all the ice found today in the central European Alps, Caucasus and Scandinavia combined.

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