Glaciel melting in Bhutan

OK, I promised you that this blog would have some unique material, well this link is about hand excavation of glacial moraines in an attempt to avert catastrophic floods if any of the moraine dams holding back the rising glacial lakes burst. Such an event is known as a Glof, for glacial lake outburst flood, and past Glofs have caused widespread destruction and fatalities.

For those of you still skeptical about global warming taking place, at least here in the Himalayas, there is abundant evidence of warming and resultant glacial melting. From a detailed article about the same subject in the 21 October 2009 issue of Nature: "Glaciers in the Himalayas are retreating faster than in any other part of the world and they could disappear completely by 2035". I hope to be able to give you a first hand report next May. The following image is from the Bhutan Observer.