16 Apr 2012

Glaciers in Asian mountain range expanding

11:09 am on 16 April 2012

Scientists have found the glaciers in one of Asia's biggest mountain ranges have expanded in the last few years, defying the general tendency towards shrinkage.

They say a detailed survey of some of the glaciers in the Karakoram mountain range - which straddles Pakistan, India and China - shows a slight expansion.

The researchers say it appears that by a quirk in the weather pattern, less heat is being delivered there while the mountains are receiving heavier falls of snow.

Glaciers in the neighbouring Himalayas have meanwhile become smaller, the BBC reports.

A French team from the National Centre for Scientific Research and the University of Grenoble used satellite data to compare two models of land surface elevation derived from satellite observations, for 1999 and 2008.

They reported their findings in the Nature Geoscience journal.