Today, global warming (climate change) has become a major concern across the planet. Investigations are being carried out to understand the causes of the recent climatic changes and there is common consensus amongst scientists that the increase in the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is the primary factor. The level of greenhouse gases has risen intermittently throughout the Earth?s history, but has been fairly constant for the last few thousand years. With the increased burning of fossil fuels, their levels have shot up in the last century, warming up the earth?s surface temperature. Melting of ice sheets in Polar regions and glaciers on the major mountain ranges such as the Himalaya, Alps and the Andes are being increasingly reported due to such warming. Researchers contend that most of the Himalayan glaciers will disappear before 2050.
In this article, the author examines the signs of climate change in Ladakh.
