THIS DOESN’T SOUND GOOD

Ice in the Himalayas Melting Fasting Than Ever

The region’s glaciers have shrunk 10 times faster than at any time in the last 700 years.

Glaciers are melting across the globe, but the loss of ice in the Himalayas is happening especially fast. Scientists compared satellite photos to determine that the ice there has vanished 10 times faster in the last four decades than it did at any time since the dawn of the Little Ice Age, about 700 years ago. At least 390 cubic kilometers of ice have been lost in the Himalayas, which scientists say could have raised sea levels 1/20 of an inch and contributed to avalanches and flooding. “This part of the world is changing faster than perhaps anybody realized,” Jonathan Carrivick, a University of Leeds glaciologist, told The Wall Street Journal. “It’s not just that the Himalayas are changing really fast, it’s that they’re changing ever faster.”