Timescales in the response of Himalayan Glaciers to Climate Change

The ice on the Himalayas constitutes a huge fresh water reservoir that
feeds the perennial rivers of North India. It is important to model
their dynamics and predict their response to the rapidly warming
climate of today.  Recent erroneous statements about the future of
Himalayan glaciers in the fourth assessment report of the IPCC has
sparked an upsurge of international interest in the issue.

We review some recent and past data on Himalayan glaciers and point
out some issues involved in understanding it. Many Himalyan glaciers
have a thick debris cover in the lower reaches. The observed dynamics
of such glaciers is one such issue. We address and propose a
resolution to this puzzle within the framework of a simple model for
the dynamics of debris covered glaciers. We finally discuss a possible
statistical approach to model the available recession data on Himalyan
glaciers.