Kathmandu, October 5:

The over 5,000 metre-high Ngozumpa glacier located in the Sagarmatha National Park is soon going to have an Automatic Weather Station (AWS) of its own. The AWS will help hydrologists acquire detailed and scientific data on the region, thus helping them chart future conservation plans.

The AWS equipment, which costs $ 12,000, will record data on solar radiation, relative humidity, air temperature, soil temperature, wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, radiant heat and precipitation. Once the AWS is in place, it will help to constantly update the data on glacial retreat. The data, in turn, will help correlate climate change with glacial retreat in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, experts say.

WWF Nepal Programme today presented an AWS set to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) in Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology. A tripartite agreement among the DHM, WWF Nepal Programme and the Society of Hydrology and Meteorology Nepal was also signed, primarily for research purposes of the regional Himalayan Glacier and River Project that has been jointly implemented in Nepal, India, China and Pakistan.

“The equipment will be installed by the glacier Ngozumpa in November and environment scientists will visit the site and collect raw data in every four months and analyse them here to see what effect the Climate Change has really made to the Himalayan Glacier and surrounding environment,” said Sandeep Chamling Rai, the Climate Change Officer at WWF Nepal Programme.

In the past few decades, global warming has had a significant impact on the high mountain environment - snow, glaciers and permafrost are specially sensitive to changes in atmospheric conditions because of their propensity to melt. Dr Chandra Gurung, the country representative of WWF Nepal, emphasised the importance of AWS equipment in furthering research on glacial retreat.

Studies have shown that out of the thousands of glacier lakes in Nepal, more than 20 could result in Glacier Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) - that can have devastating consequences and is one of the most feared impacts of global warming.