Melting glaciers pose major threat to Central Asia

A general view shows the lake near the Petrov glacier in Kyrgyzstan
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Near a wooden hut high up in the Kyrgyz mountains, scientist Gulbara Omorova walked to a pile of grey rocks, reminiscing how the same spot was a glacier just a few years ago.

At an altitude of 4,000 metres, the 35-year-old researcher is surrounded by the giant peaks of the towering Tian Shan range that also stretches into China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

The area is home to thousands of glaciers that are melting at an alarming rate in Central Asia, already hard-hit by climate change.

A glaciologist, Ms. Omarova is recording that process — worried about the future. She hiked six hours to get to the modest triangular-shaped hut that serves as a science station — almost up in the clouds.

“Eight to 10 years ago you could see the glacier with snow,” Ms. Omorova said. “But in the last three-to-four years, it has disappeared completely. There is no snow, no glacier,” she said.

The effects of a warming planet have been particularly visible in Central Asia, which has seen a wave of extreme weather disasters. The melting of thousands of glaciers is a major threat to people in the landlocked region that already suffers from a shortage of water.

Acting as water towers, glaciers are crucial to the region’s food security and vital freshwater reserves are now dwindling fast.

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have stepped up efforts to draw attention to a looming catastrophe. Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov warned last year that forecasts show Central Asian glaciers “will halve by 2050 and disappear completely by 2100”.