Problems of Glacier Retreats in the Himalaya and Dimension of Environmental Hazards

With majestic aesthetic beauty and enormous research notential glaciers and snow fields in the Himaiaya always draw attention of the mountain-lovers and environmental researchers. Mountaineers and trekkers, however, have difficulties in distinguishing snow-patches from glaciers. They often traverse numerous semi-permanent snow patches of avalanche-type while negotiating high ridges and summit1 and by mistake identify them as glaciers. By doing so the ignore the fact that these two typical alpine hydrological features do not resemble each other in any manner except their snowy appearance. -By definition glacier ice is a huge mass of slowly moving ice which originates in the arctic and alpine environments above the perpetual snow line, and does not melt completely at any time of they ear. O1igin of the glaciers owes to huge amounts of snowfall and their subsequent accumulation under freezing temperature. The first technical definition of glacier was given by the European scientist J.D.Forbes 1843 as a glacier is not but is a granular compound of ice and water, possessing under certain circumstances, especially when sarurated with moisture, a rude flexibility sensible even to the hand .An ice age is virtually a prolonged period of tens of millions of years during which extensive ice-sheets occur some where upon the earth. At present we are living in anice age which is known as Quaternary. The Quarernarv geologists believe that there have been at least seven ice ages before the present one four having occurred in the Pre-Cambrian era of more than 600 million years ago. Bishnupada Sheet "Problems of Glacier Retreats in the Himalaya and Dimension of Environmental Hazards" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-2 | Issue-6 , October 2018, URL: http://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd18448.pdf