Where Is the Karakoram?
The Karakoram is a mountain range in the Kashmir region spanning the borders of Pakistan, China and India, with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The majority of the range falls within the jurisdiction of Pakistan’s northern area of Gilgit-Baltistan, which includes the disputed territory of Kashmir. The area is home to four of the world’s 14 peaks above 8,000 metres, including the world’s second highest, K2, at 8,611 metres.
MAP OF NORTHERN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA AND GILGIT-BALTISTAN
What’s So Special About the Glaciers in the Karakoram Range?
Unlike many glaciers in other parts of the world, Karakoram glaciers have extensive debris cover, which leads to long and large glaciers. Many are also “surging glaciers”, that is, glaciers which periodically show very fast advances at the cost of depleting their accumulation region – the upper reaches of the glacier where snowfall is greatest. Surges are usually followed by a recovery period of ice accumulation before they surge again. The reason there are so many of these glaciers in the Karakoram Range is unclear.
World Glacier Facts and Predictions
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), globally glaciers lost more than 6,000 gigatons of ice over the period 1993– 2019. This is the equivalent water volume of 10 lakes the size of the Dead Sea, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), glaciers in the Italian Dolomites, USA’s Yosemite National Park, and all UNESCO World Heritage sites in Africa (including Kilimanjaro National Park and Mount Kenya) will likely disappear by 2050
Top 10 Highest Peaks in the Karakoram Range
The Karakoram Range contains 18 peaks higher than 7,500 metres, many of which can been seen from the amphitheatre of Concordia
