Himalayan Snowpack Falling Quickly Compared To 1980-2020 Baseline; No DecemberRain/Snow In Nearly All Of Northern India
Much less winter snow is falling on the Himalayas, leaving the mountains bare and rocky in many parts of the region in a season when they should be snow-clad, meteorologists have said. They say most winters in the last five years have seen a drop compared to average snowfall between 1980 and 2020.
Rising temperature also means what little snow falls melts very quickly and some lower-elevation areas are also seeing more rain and less snow, which is at least in part due to global warming, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and other scientific reports. Studies have also shown there is now what is known as "snow drought" during winter in many parts of the Himalayan region.
Accelerated melting of glaciers in the wake of global warming has long been a major crisis facing India's Himalayan states and other countries in the region. This dwindling snowfall during winter is making matters worse, experts have told the BBC.
EDIT
The Indian Meteorological Department recorded no precipitation - rainfall and snowfall - in almost all of northern India in December. The weather department says there is a high possibility that many parts of northwest India, including Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh states, and the federally-administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, will see 86% less than long period average (LPA) rainfall and snowfall between January and March. LPA is the rainfall or snow recorded over a region over 30 to 50 years and use its average to classify current weather as normal, excess or deficient.
EDIT
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyndv7zd20o
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