Thongley et al. (2026) Accelerated Glacier Area Loss and Extinction of Small Glaciers in the Bhutanese Himalaya over the Past Five Decades

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Remote Sensing
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-01-18
• Authors: Thongley Thongley, Levan Tielidze, Weilin Yang, Andrew Gunn, Andrew Mackintosh
• DOI: 10.3390/rs18020323

Research Groups

Not explicitly stated in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study presents three updated glacier inventories (1976, 1998, 2024) for the Bhutanese Himalaya, revealing a significant and accelerating loss of glacier area and number, with lake-terminating glaciers retreating nearly three times faster than land-terminating ones, coinciding with an increased regional warming rate.

Objective

• To generate updated glacier inventories for the Bhutanese Himalaya for 1976, 1998, and 2024, and to systematically analyze decadal-scale glacier changes and their drivers in the region.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Bhutanese Himalaya, including distinct analyses for South Bhutanese Himalaya and North Bhutanese Himalaya.
• Temporal Scale: Three distinct periods: 1976, 1998, and 2024, analyzing changes over 1976–1998 and 1998–2024.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: ERA5-Land reanalysis data for temperature trends. Glacier outlines were derived through manual mapping.
• Data sources: Multi-source satellite imagery, Copernicus digital elevation model (DEM), ERA5-Land reanalysis data.

Main Results

• In 1976, the region contained 1871 glaciers covering an area of 2297.07 ± 117.15 km².
• By 1998, the number of glaciers reduced to 1803, covering 2106.99 ± 90.60 km².
• In 2024, only 1697 glaciers remained, covering 1584.18 ± 36.37 km².
• A total of 89 glaciers became extinct between 1976 and 1998, and 435 between 1998 and 2024.
• Glacier area decrease accelerated from approximately 0.38% per year (1976–1998) to approximately 0.95% per year (1998–2024).
• Lake-terminating glaciers retreated almost three times faster (approximately 32.2 meters per year) than land-terminating glaciers (approximately 10.4 meters per year).
• Debris-covered glacier area increased from 112.79 ± 11.50 km² in 1976 to 128.89 ± 10.50 km² in 2024.
• Glaciers in the South Bhutanese Himalaya experienced faster retreat than those in the North Bhutanese Himalaya.
• ERA5-Land data showed summer decadal average temperature increased by 0.003 °C per year between 1976 and 1998, and by 0.020 °C per year between 1998 and 2024, with the accelerated warming coinciding with accelerated glacier retreat.

Contributions

• Provides the first up-to-date glacier inventories (1976, 1998, 2024) and a systematic analysis of decadal-scale glacier changes for the Bhutanese Himalaya.
• Offers crucial baseline data for assessments of global sea level change, mountain hazards, and water resource management in the region.

Funding

Not provided in the text.

Citation

@article{Thongley2026Accelerated,
  author = {Thongley, Thongley and Tielidze, Levan and Yang, Weilin and Gunn, Andrew and Mackintosh, Andrew},
  title = {Accelerated Glacier Area Loss and Extinction of Small Glaciers in the Bhutanese Himalaya over the Past Five Decades},
  journal = {Remote Sensing},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.3390/rs18020323},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18020323}
}