JAMMU & KASHMIR, March 25, 2025 (The Hindu): Permafrost melting is emerging as a unique environmental threat in the Kashmir Himalaya. A new study has found that thawing permafrost could affect 120 miles of roads, 2,415 households, 903 alpine lakes, and eight hydropower projects in the mountainous region. Permafrost is any type of ground — soil, sediment, rock, etc. — that has been continuously frozen for at least two years. Most of the permafrost on the Earth has been that way for several millennia. But with global warming, the permafrost is slowly beginning to thaw, with dramatic consequences. Permafrost stores several tons of organic carbon. As it melts, the carbon is released into the environment, including in the form of methane, a very potent greenhouse gas and climate pollutant. As Earth warms, microbes frozen for millennia are coming back to life. The stability of permafrost in the Indian Himalaya is thus of great concern.

According to a new study, published in Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment, permafrost covers 64.8% of the total geographic area of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh. Of this 26.7% is continuous permafrost (most of the soil is frozen), 23.8% is discontinuous (more than half of the soil is frozen), and 14.3% is sporadic (intermittent patches of frozen soil). Reet Kamal, associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT-Ropar, said the study (in which he wasn’t involved) could be a preliminary step in assessing the impact of permafrost degradation. “It is a crucial study, as permafrost has been largely overlooked, and no similar research has been conducted in this region,” Kamal said. “While some studies exist in Uttarakhand, there is a pressing need for more research to better understand the risks associated with permafrost degradation.” According to the experts, the primary factor driving permafrost degradation is the rise in surface temperature.

Much more at source.
https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/permafrost-degradation-kashmir-new-risks-satellite-data/article69352862.ece

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