An interesting headline article in the Economist this morning. From my experience of talking with local people in the Khumbu and in the Annapurna areas it is clear they think the glaciers are retreating and retreating fast. Perhaps the most examined (bit of) glacier being the Kumbu icefall which has in living memory collapsed and retreated significantly. Nevertheless it is a complex system as the article points out and rainfall is perhaps as important as temperature in controlling the advance or contraction of Himalayan glaciers. To understand these things is challenging. Certainly we don't currently have the data to predict into the future. Enter the IPCC for whom this is a very damning inditement.
Recommended reading. Apologies for being on my environmental soap-box. I am now stood down :-)
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