Glacier area in Issyk-Kul basin shrinks by 33.7 percent

The area covered by glaciers in Issyk-Kul Basin has decreased by 33.7 percent over the past 70–90 years. The Hydrometeorological Service under the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyzhydromet) reported.

The agency said that over the past 7–10 years alone, glaciers in the basin have shrunk by further 23.1 percent.

The updated figures were obtained during the revision of the national glacier catalogue, which included a comprehensive assessment of glaciers, clarification of their boundaries, and the collection of morphometric data.

Kyrgyzhydromet used Sentinel-2 satellite imagery from the Copernicus program, the QGIS geographic information system, the Google Earth platform, and data from previous studies.

The survey identified glaciers that have split into separate bodies, newly formed glaciers, and glaciers that have disappeared completely.

According to Kyrgyzhydromet, the continued reduction in glacier area is linked to climate change and the accelerating processes of glacier degradation.