NASA and academic researchers investigate melting mountains lifting sea level

As they melt, glaciers and ice sheets dramatically affect sea level rise and the climate system as a whole, creating an urgency to understand and forecast their behavior.

Civil engineers are assessing the climate change challenges facing some of the world’s highest mountain ranges, creating better ways to measure the melting ice in high elevations where temperatures are rising faster than the average, putting pressure on the livelihoods of fragile cultures and ecosystems. 

Funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and led by George Mason University’s Professor Viviana Maggioni, the researchers teamed up with Chile’s Universidad de la Frontera. 

Together, their analysis encompasses the mountain regions of Asia, which include the world’s highest mountains and support drinking water and food production for nearly three billion people. 

Their efforts also stretch across the globe to the Andes of South America: the highest mountain range on Earth outside of Asia.

“It is essential to understand how these high mountain areas are responding to climate change, since their melting permafrost has major impacts on surrounding regions and the people living nearby,” said Maggioni.  

In Devprayag, which means “Godly Confluence” in Sanskrit, the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers meet, and from this confluence, they merge to form India’s sacred Ganges (Ganga) river.

This confluence, known as the Devprayag Sangam, is a significant pilgrimage site where the distinct colors of the two rivers—emerald green and sapphire blue—join to create the powerful, unified Ganga.

To access and analyze these remote and geographically diverse locations, the researchers use advanced data assimilation algorithms, multiple satellite-based sensors, and NASA’s Glacial Melt Toolbox: a cutting-edge collection of remote sensing, digital elevation, and mapping technologies that help measure and forecast changes in ice, water, snow, and other natural phenomena.

The research aims to identify regional hotspots in the high mountain areas of Asia and the Andes where the permafrost is melting rapidly.

The Gaumukh Glacier accommodates an estimated area of 27 cubic km and stretches around 30 km long and 2 km wide.

Its topography includes rough and rugged terrain with a glacial landscape where you’ll find solid glacier parts scattering around. It’s generally called the boulder zone due to the presence of huge rocks, and even sometimes as huge as 10-14 ft.

In the nearby area of the Gangotri Glacier, there are other glaciers such as Chaturangi, Swachand, and Raktvaran, and they serve as tributary glaciers.

This place is well known for its trekking adventures in the Himalayas . The trekking route includes a steep climb and descents where you’ll be crossing multiple glaciers, hilly paths, and rocks, all surrounded by tall and magnificent snow-clad mountains.

The most famous mountain peaks that are visible from the summit are Bhagirathi, Chaukhamba, Mt. Shivling, and such. Besides, The water of the Bhagirathi River, to be exact, comes on the surface through a minor crack in the ice at this glacier.

There are only a few mountain peaks of the Chaukhamba range that separate the Gangotri Glacier in the west from the Satopanth Glacier in the east, which gives birth to the Alaknanda River. From the Chaukhambha base to the snout of Gaumukh, it is 30 km in length.

The glaciers of Bhagirathi, Kedarnath, and Shivling also merge with the Gangotri glacier.

Those hotspots are where local communities and natural cycles are most threatened, especially as climate change and the warming continue.

“The melting and permafrost loss in these areas has not been widely studied before,” Maggioni said. “This is alarming, since water availability and security are at risk.”  

The increasing height of global oceans is primarily caused by human-induced global warming, which leads to the thermal expansion of warming water and the melting of ice sheets and glaciers.

This phenomenon accelerates with rising global temperatures, posing risks like increased flooding, erosion, and damage to coastal communities and environments worldwide.

Efforts to adapt include building seawalls, restoring natural coastal defenses, and planning for potential relocation of vulnerable populations.