The total area of glaciers in Iran has reduced by 21% (about 9 square kilometers) compared to 10 years ago, a report by the Water Research Institute said.
According to the latest studies, currently 11 glacial areas in the country have an area of approximately 34.72 square kilometers, the Energy Ministry’s news portal Paven reported.
The provinces of Mazandaran, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, Ardabil and Lorestan with 36.7%, 23.7%, 19.2% and 9.8% of the total glacier areas of the country, respectively, have the largest share of this valuable water source.
Although the area of glaciers in Iran is very small compared to many European and Asian countries (such as Iceland, Spain, Norway, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan), this amount is a valuable source of water and significant in terms of monitoring climate change.
The existence of glaciers in Iran is important as they are found in a country with arid and semi-arid climate and abound in the heights of Zagros and Alborz mountains.
Glaciers in general may be defined as masses of ice which, in an ideal case, move slowly down a slope from above the fictitious snow line under the force of gravity. They owe their existence to the snowfall which is pressurized into granular ice or, under conditions of continued pressure over long times and great depth of the layers, into clear ice.
From the originating snow fields, glaciers may extend well below the snow line forming those typical tongue-shaped forms that are so characteristic of many high mountain areas of the world.
The report by the Water Research Institute adds that since the early 1980s, the study of the country's glaciers in the form of several research projects has been carried out by the academic community. After conducting preliminary studies and presenting the results of the research, a project titled “protection of the country's glaciers” was defined by the Energy Ministry and the Water Research Institute was assigned to do it.
One of the recent measures taken in this regard was using drones for the aerial imaging of glaciers in Alamkouh region, as the largest and most famous glacier in Iran, and comparing the images taken last year with those of 10 years ago.
Results showed that the average thickness of glaciers in the region decreased at a rate of approximately 23 cm per year during the 10-year period, which is equivalent to an annual reduction of 0.75 million cubic meters of the Alamkouh glacier.
Considering the volume of 102 million cubic meters of Alamkouh glacier, if the trend continues until the end of the 21st century, almost 60% of the volume of the glacier will disappear, which will lead to various environmental hazards in the region.
Alamkouh is a mountain in Alborz mountain range in northern Iran, located in Kelardasht district of Mazandaran Province. With an elevation of 4,805 meters, it is the second-highest peak in Iran after Mount Damavand. The mountain range supports permanent snow and glaciers.
Studies show that the same is happening in other glacial areas of Iran, which means that many parts of the country will face environmental challenges.
Due to the northeast-southwest situation of mountain ranges and their exposure to westerly air masses with winter rain, precipitation is comparatively high in the Zagros that is a long mountain range in western Iran.
It is, therefore, not surprising that high winter snowfall accumulates to form snow fields and ice fields, some of which still develop into glacier-like structures in the highest sections of the mountain range, especially in the Zardkouh area of the central Zagros, although the main peak is considerably lower than the highest reaches of the Alborz.
Although the southern slopes of Alborz mountain range tend to be dry and barren, the northern valleys leading to the Caspian Sea (which offer the best approaches to the mountains) are wet and lush with vegetation.
With a vast amount of the surrounding population relying on glacial ice as a source of freshwater for households and agriculture, it is essential to raise awareness of the effects of climate change in the regions.
