Home – Home – Jornals – Geography and Natural Resources 2023 number 4

We present results form a ten-year-long study into local features of mountain glacier dynamics in the central part of Asia - from the latitudes of the middle taiga of Cisbaikalia and Transbaikalia, through the mountains of the steppe zone of Mongolian Altai and the desert zone of China to the cold deserts of the Himalayas. Interpretation of multi-temporal satellite images was carried out, thereby making it possible to obtain quantitative information on changes in the area and length of glaciers in the key areas of the mountain territories under study. These data are linked to climatic parameters, absolute altitude, permafrost, morphology and tectonics of the mountain ridges, and to anthropogenic impact. The study revealed a general trend, namely a retreat of the glaciers starting in the 1970s, with an increase in the average annual air temperature in the northern hemisphere by 1,4-1,6 °С. Accelerated glacier melting and a reduction in glacier length were observed from 1990 to 2020 when there occurred the most significant warming. The following years with above-average temperatures are highlighted: 1990, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2005, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2019, and 2020. During this period also showed an increase in the area and length of some of the glaciers studied during 2013-2015 and in 2021 associated with abnormal winter precipitation in 2012, 2013 and 2020. It was found that in the mountains of the south of Eastern Siberia the aforementioned years showed a slowdown in the reduction of the area of glaciers, an increase of the number of perennial snow patches, and an increase in the frequency of snow avalanches. It has been revealed that the glaciers in Siberia, Mongolian Altai, and the Altyn-Tag Range retreated from the terminal moraines of the Little Ice Age retreated an average of 500 m, on the Karlyktag Range 800-900 m, and in the Himalayas (Langtang area) from 1 to 4,5 km.