During the Cold War , undercover agent orbiter were invariably circling the Earth . But while the intent of those planet is generally to track human activities , the imaging they captured has also testify to be a trove of scientific data .
The latest habit of Cold War imagery has revealed a immense speedup in Himalayan ice loss . The resultspublished in Science Advanceson Wednesday show that glaciers in the Himalayas are melt twice as fast this C as they were during the Cold War , a determination that underscores just how promptly Earth ’s Third Pole is changing .
Today ’s artificial satellite practice fancy sensors and digital imagery to capture the planet . In comparison , the Cold War - era KH-9 Hexagon serial publication of American undercover agent satellites seem downright quaint . The full-grown lug went up into orbit from 1973 - 1980 with 30 - mile rolls of film . They would bust images of Earth and then return the flick for processing by dropping a glorified pail with a chute back toward Earth where it would be snatched up by planes in what is the most elaborate dead drop in spying history .
Oblique view of Himalayan landscape captured by a KH-9 HEXAGON satellite on 26 January 2025 on the border between eastern Nepal and Sikkim, India. There’s a3D versionavailable to explore as well.Image: Josh Maurer/LDEO
https://gizmodo.com/scientists-just-installed-the-world-s-highest-weather-s-1835485734
The simulacrum were ab initio used to cross Soviet activities , but scientists at Columbia ’s Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory and the University of Utah saw another handy exercise for them . The satellite appropriate numerous images of the Himalayas in the 1970s , which the enquiry team compared to trope captured by ASTER , an pawn used on NASA ’s more advanced Terra satellites . Using this mix of data point , the scientist localise out to compare the old shoal look-alike with fresh , digital ones get from 2000 - 2016 over a 1,240 mile ( 2,000 kilometer ) transect of the world ’s highest wad stove . The previous planet imagery was processed using techniquespioneered a few years agoto turn them into 3D models , which made them easygoing to liken to the modernistic datum . All told , the work looked at 650 glacier .
The comparison reveals that glaciers are disappear in the 21st century at twice the rate they were in the late 20th century . The marked acceleration in ice loss is sharp in low-down ALT glaciers . Glacier thickness around 13,100 feet ( 4,000 measure ) , for lesson , declined about 4.5 feet ( 1.4 meters ) in the twenty-first century compared to just 1.3 foot ( 0.4 meter ) from 1975 - 2000 .
The reason for piercing uptick in ice loss is n’t too surprising . It ’s pay off hot . The cogitation notes that the 21st hundred annual average temperature is a full 1.8 degree Fahrenheit ( 1 level Celsius ) gamey than it was for the full point from 1975 - 2000 . Otherresearch also showsthe Indian monsoon has been faint in the central Himalayas , which in play has reduced the amount of snow glacier encounter each year to refill summer melt . smut deposited on the glaciers from industrial activity in China and other theatrical role of Asia could is yet another factorcontributing to the loss . But commit the consistent ice rink loss and rising temperature , the study makes it clear that heat is likely the reverse element contributing to the Himalayan meltdown .
“ This is the clear picture yet of how fast Himalayan glaciers are melting over this time interval , and why , ” Joshua Maurer , a Ph.D. candidate at Columbia University who led the study , said in a statement .
The disappearing of crank could dissemble water availableness in valley below — valleys which are home to hundreds of jillion — that depend on meltwater for power generation and Department of Agriculture . The spy satellite data leave a cardinal glance of how the region got to this point . And it ’s also why enquiry cause in the Himalayas , includingtaking on - the - earth measurements , are so crucial to interpret what comes next .
glaciersice ice maybe
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