Kyrgyzstan currently has around 10,000 large, medium, and small glaciers covering a total area of over 6,600 square kilometers. Ryskul Usubaliev, head of the department at theCentral Asian Institute for Applied Geosciences, said on the air of Birinchi Radio.
According to Usubaliev, compared to glacier records from the 1970s, their total area in Kyrgyzstan has decreased by an average of 14-16 percent, but this figure varies by region.
For example, highest rate of glacier reduction is observed in Talas Valley.
«This region experiences higher temperatures compared to others, leading to nearly a 50 percent reduction in glaciers over the past 70 years. There are many reasons for the disappearance of glaciers, but one of the main ones is climate change. Temperatures are rising, and the amount of precipitation in the high-mountain zone where the glaciers are located is decreasing. This situation is very unfavorable for the existence of glaciers,» Ryskul Usubaliev said.
