Rapid Fire
Pamir-Karakoram Anomaly
- 20 Dec 2025
- 3 min read
Scientists are analysing deep ice cores from the Kon-Chukurbashi ice cap in Tajikistan to scientifically explain the Pamir–Karakoram anomaly—where glaciers have remained stable or grown despite global warming.
Pamir-Karakoram Anomaly
- About: The Pamir–Karakoram anomaly refers to the unusual stability or slight growth of glaciers in the Karakoram and parts of the Pamir mountain ranges since the late 1900s, while glaciers in the Himalayas, Alps, Andes, and Rocky Mountains have been shrinking due to global warming.
- Proposed Causes:
- Increased winter precipitation: Heavier snowfall replenishes glaciers, offsetting summer melt.
- High, steep topography: Mountains shade ice and provide high-altitude accumulation zones.
- Climate patterns: Moisture from Western Disturbances, not the Indian Monsoon, dominates.
- Summer cloud cover: Potentially reduces solar radiation and melting.
- Protective debris cover: Insulates lower glacier ice from melt.
- Geographic Scope: Mainly the Karakoram Range (especially in Gilgit-Baltistan, parts of Ladakh). It extends into the western Pamir Mountains (Tajikistan, Afghanistan).
- Recent Findings: Scientific investigations, utilizing satellite altimetry (e.g., ICESat-2), and gravity data (GRACE), have revealed that this anomaly has weakened though field-based ice-core evidence is still being analysed.
- Significance for India: Glaciers in the Karakoram feed the Indus River and its tributaries, and their relative stability helps maintain more reliable river flows into Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir.
Karakoram Ranges
- About: The Karakoram Range lies at the centre of Asia, forming part of a complex mountain system that includes the Hindu Kush to the west, the Pamirs to the northwest, the Kunlun Mountains to the northeast, and the Himalayas to the southeast.
- Geographic Spread: The range extends across Afghanistan, China, India, Pakistan, and Tajikistan.
- Highest Peak: The highest peak is K2 (8,611 meters, also known as Mount Godwin-Austen), which is the 2nd-highest mountain on Earth after Mount Everest (8,849 meters).
| Read More: Gangotri Glacier Retreat Signals Climate Peril |
