The bodies of dense ice that are floating on the water surfaces are glaciers. Glaciers form when the accumulation of the snow surpasses its ablation (its erosive process) for years or often centuries. In simple words, when snow remains constant for some time, enough to turn this snow into ice, the glacier forms.
Melting water from the glaciers forms the Lake Saif ul Muluk.
Will all glaciers of Pakistan melt by 2035?
Pakistan has more glaciers than almost anywhere on earth. However, now everyone is worried about the glaciers melting away. People think if they vanish, there will not be enough drinking water.
Increased water flow due to increased temperature from the receding Shishper Glacier, almost floods the nearby village, Hasanabad.
“Every year, it’s melting.”
Somewhere Abdul Nasir said, “ We are worried about the disappearance of glaciers, there will be no water left.”
Bashir Ahmad Wani said, “Here, it’s already happening, and I think in the coming years it will just get worse.”
”All the glaciers of Pakistan are melting because of the temperature. And by the year 2035, there will be no glaciers left in the country. And Pakistan will not have water reserves in the form of glaciers.” The statement was stated by the Federal Minister of Science and Technology, Zahid Hamid, who addressed the ceremony of the international conference of Pakistan in 2013.
There were three conferences that had been organized by the Pakistan council of technology and science with five different departments of the National University of Science and Technology (NUST). The federal minister of science and technology said in the past 100 years, the temperature of the whole world has increased by one-degree centigrade.
“Pakistan is the eighth most vulnerable country that faces abrupt climatic changes. And it is only contributing roughly 0.34 percent to the greenhouse gases. This is responsible for global warming,” the minister said.
He also mentioned the siltation of dam bursts due to raised water levels that are in turn the result of melting of glaciers as well as deforestation. He further mentioned, “ In 2010, the flood forced a maximum of 20 million people to leave their houses.”
And for sure if global warming continues in the next few years, we will be in a very difficult situation and face more disasters.
In Pakistan, 23 percent of people are at risk of floods. The glaciers of Pakistan will likely melt in the next two to three decades. This might result in an acute water shortage followed by the food shortages.
The disappearance of glaciers as a result of global warming.
The minister added, “The changing policy of climate has been approved in 2012 and now we are trying our best to implement and execute it.”
“We have to save our water resources because there will be no life left without them.”
”The construction work in Murree had an adverse effect to the place. And if I get the chance I would turn back Murree into the city that it was a decade ago”, he said.
To Sum Up
It is saddening to see that every now and then the illegal woodcutting on the Margalla hills is covered behind the fire incidents. The government as well as the individuals need to take steps to solve these issues to save both the water resources and the natural beauty of Pakistan. If enough effective measures are taken to reduce the pollution and deforestation in Pakistan, it can increase the lifetime of glaciers. If not, then God only knows what will become of us.
