Scientists refer to the regions of our planet where water is virtually always in frozen form as the “cryosphere,” which comes from the Greek word krios meaning “cold.” According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the cryosphere comprises all ice and snow on the planet, including ice sheets and glaciers as well as frozen rivers and sea ice. “The components of the cryosphere play an important role in the Earth’s climate [because] [s]now and ice reflect heat from the sun, helping to regulate our planet’s temperature.” The cryosphere, or more precisely the seasonal melting in parts of the cryosphere, also plays a crucial role in the planet’s hydrologic cycle and provides a vital source of freshwater for billions of people worldwide.
In its “State of Global Water Resources 2023 Report,” the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) explains that “[i]n many regions, precipitation and snowmelt primarily drive seasonal streamflow, but glaciers play a crucial role during specific months, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Here, the delayed release of meltwater from glaciers helps sustain river flows during the driest months and periods of drought.” These glaciers essentially “act as reservoirs of water that persist through summer,” according to researchers with the United States Geological Survey. “Continual melt from glaciers contributes water to the ecosystem throughout dry months, creating perennial stream habitat and a water source for plants and animals” and people.
However, as glaciers continue to melt at ever-increasing speeds, “their runoff initially increases, reaching a point of ‘peak water,’” a point beyond which freshwater volumes will continue to decline “as glacier volumes shrink. If temperatures continue to increase, the glacier will disappear, and with it, its hydrological contribution,” according to the WMO. Meteorologists expect this trend to continue globally “with significant reductions in glacier runoff by the century’s end, particularly in Central Asia and the Andes.”
According to reporting by the Ecologist, about “1.9 billion people across the South Asian subcontinent depend upon Himalayan glaciers for drinking water, agriculture and energy.” But these glaciers “are melting twice as fast as they were in the year 2000,” with some areas of the Himalayan region warming “three times faster than the global average.” The Andes have also been affected, where “Peru alone has lost up to 50 percent of its glacial ice in the past three to four decades.” The 2024 Arctic Report Card also highlights “record-breaking and near-record-breaking observations that demonstrate dramatic change” in ice loss due to extreme melting in western North America and the European Alps, where farmers in Switzerland have redirected meltwater from glaciers for centuries to irrigate their crops. According to the International Cryosphere Initiative, “nearly half of current glacier ice in the Alps will disappear by 2050 … if glacier loss … continues the same trend observed over the past two decades.”
With glaciers seemingly poised to disappear within the lifetime of the children born today, one region has already started taking proactive steps to counteract the phenomenon using a technique known as “glacial grafting.” One of the most famous proponents of this technique is Chewang Norphel, an engineer from the Ladakh region of northern India. Situated between the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges, Ladakh is a high-altitude desert and one of the highest inhabited places on Earth at over 9,800 feet above sea level. Norphel became known as the Ice Man of Ladakh when he grafted over a dozen artificial glaciers, starting in 1987. “The process involves several steps,” according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center website. “In November and December, water gets diverted to the shady side of the mountain by an intricate network of water channels and mini dams along the upper slope of the valley … To ensure efficiency of water distribution, the artificial glaciers are placed at various altitudes like steps. When spring arrives, the glacier at the lowest altitude melts first. As temperatures continue to rise into summer, the higher glaciers melt to provide water later in the season.”
The Ladakh region is also home to another innovation called “ice stupas” that were designed by Sonam Wangchuk, a local mechanical engineer. Similar in shape to earthen Buddhist shrines known as stupas, “ice stupas” are formed using “excess water from an upstream river during the winter months and directing it via gravity with the aid of pipes and sprinklers” that spray the water into the air, causing it to freeze into the form of a stupa at temperatures that typically reach -20 degrees Celsius, according to the India Water Portal. “It was found that the resulting conical shape of the artificial glacier melts approximately 5 times slower than naturally formed ground ice and snow due to its comparatively smaller surface area.”
As the rise in global temperatures continues to accelerate ice melt worldwide, the tenacious efforts by people in the Ladakh region of northern India could serve not only as an example for other communities reliant on the cryosphere for their freshwater, but also as a glimmer of hope in an increasingly bleak climate future.
Visit indiawaterportal.org and climateheroes.org to learn more about ice innovations in the Ladakh region.
Trey Gerfers serves as general manager of the Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District. A San Antonio native, he has lived in Marfa since 2013 and can be reached at tgerfers@pcuwcd.org.