Record-Breaking Himalayan Melt Worsens Pakistan's Deadly Floods

Global warming is accelerating the loss of Himalayan glaciers much faster than scientists previously thought.

Every year, as the weather warms, teams of Indian scientists trek the Himalayan mountains to study the Chhota Shigri glacier in India's northern state of Himachal Pradesh.  Pakistan's devastating floods:- 1350 people killed- 50M people displaced- 900K livestock deaths- 1M houses washed away- 40+ reservoirs breached- 220+ bridges collapsed- 90% cropped damaged- $10B loss to economy- 1/3 country underwaterSource - PDMA / NDMA pic.twitter.com/TG6jnL8zZQ

For the past decade and a half, they've recorded the extent of snow cover, checked the temperature of the air and soil, observed the surface of ice formations and measured the discharge from seasonal snowmelt that feeds the river valleys below.

This year, record-breaking glacial melt washed the discharge measuring station clean away.

"We had installed it in June and by August we couldn't even find the remnants," said Mohd Farooq Azam, a glaciologist at the Indian Institute of Technology in Indore.