Himalaya Watch

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Wednesday, November 2, 2022

SOS from the Himalaya: The lifeline to 2b people is snapping in real time

Dispatch from Annapurna Base Camp

The day we reached Annapurna Base Camp (ABC), one of the most tempting tourist destinations in Nepal, the peaks were mostly covered by cloud. The next morning, though, everything was clear. Revelers were finding it hard to fathom the beauty of the snow-capped peaks all around them.  

 

I was, though, constantly haunted by a different scene. On my way up to the camp, I had noticed the huge ravine adjoining the camp itself which seemed to be expanding every year because of active landslides on both of its sides. Now it is about three kilometers long with an estimated width of around 300 meters. 


 

What was so anomalous about this mediocre-looking ravine next to the magnificent Annapurna range of the Himalaya?

Once upon a time it used to be a glacier. Millions of tonnes of snow used to sit atop the gravel that is now exposed even in late October. High pressure and warmer temperatures around the tail end of the glacier made sure that a given amount of ice kept melting throughout the year, feeding the Modi river round-the-clock. The ice so lost would be constantly replenished by the snow that kept sliding from the body of the peaks above and falling at the top.

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