The Himalayas


Mt. Langtang Lirung 7,227 m. or 23,711 ft. as seen in the evening from Gonga, Nuwakot. Photo taken on 7th Jan 2011.


List of Major Himalayas from Nepal:

Mount Everest
Nepal
29035
8850
1
Kanchanjunga
Nepal
28169
8586
3
Lhotse I
Nepal - Tibet
27940
8516
4
Makalu I
Nepal
27766
8463
5
Cho Oyu
Nepal - Tibet
26906
8201
6
Dhaulagiri
Nepal
26795
8167
7.
Manaslu 1
Nepal
26781
8163
8
Annapurna I
Nepal
26545
8091
10
Annapurna II
Nepal
26041
7937
15
Gyachung Kang
Nepal
25910
7897
16
Himalchuli
Nepal
25801
7864
18
Jongsong Peak
Nepal
24472
7459
38
Nuptse
Nepal
25726
7841
19
Makalu II
Nepal
25120
7657
31
Chamlang
Nepal
24012
7319
45
Tent Peak
Nepal
24165
7365
43
Kabru
Nepal
24002
7316
46
Baruntse
Nepal
23688
7220
51
Nepal Peak
Nepal
23500
7163
52
Pyramid
Nepal
23400
7132
58
Api
Nepal
23399
7132
59
Ama Dablam
Nepal
22494
6856
71
Kailas (Kailash Parbat)
Nepal - Tibet
22027
6714
80
Gauri Shankar
Nepal - Tibet
23440
7145
54


Gauri Shanker Himalaya: Ht. 7134mtr./23405 ft. as seen from the Kalinchowk Temple, Dolakha; 28 October, 2010
Himalayas: The Facts*
  1.  In Sanskrit HIMA = Snow and ALAYA = Abode; hence HIMALAYA = ‘the abode of snow’.
  2.  Though it is unusual to have such an amount of snow/ice accumulation in low latitude, the mountain are so high that the cold and rarefied air always adores their peaks so that the snow/ice respects and keeps on covering constantly.
  3.  Himalayas – the world’s tallest mountains – are the mountains in between Indus River on the west to the Barhmaputra River on the east, measuring approximately 2400 kilometers, with width variation from 160 – 240 kilometers.
  4. Himalayas cover about 0.4% of the Earth’s Space i.e. an area of 612021 square KM.
  5.  Himalayas, also called “the water towers”, are the origin of some major river systems like the Indus, the Sutlej, the Ganges, the Mahakali, the Karnali, the Gandaki, the Sapta Koshi, and the Burhmaputra – the source of fresh water for about 1/3rd of the world populations.
  6. Erosion is crucial in case of the Himalayas, not only in creation of antecedent rivers, but in the general formation of Himalayas.
  7. According to Bob Stoddard, if there wouldn’t be the wearing down of this gigantic earth wrinkle, the Himalayas would be much higher and growing at the rate of 8 – 10 centimeters annually.
  8.  He furthers argues that, the present rate of erosion is such that it takes a century for the mountains to increase in height even a few centimeters.
  9.  Erosion affects not only the height but also carves into steep peaks, narrow gorges, and the generally rugged topography that characterizes these young mountains.
  10. Himalayas are one of the most vulnerable areas of world due to climate change. Various studies suggest that warming in the Himalayas has been much greater than the global average of 0.74°C over the last 100 years.
  11. The Himalayas are characterized by high altitude, rich biodiversity and high endemism despite being environmentally severe.
  12. It is accepted that abiotic stresses increase with increased altitude in the Himalayas.
  13.  Many of the World's most sensitive ecosystems are in Mountain regions.
  14. Mountain ecosystems support 1/2 of the world's biological diversity and nearly half of the world's biodiversity Hotspots (Hassan et.al. 2005).
  15. Globalization, economic policies, increasing pressure on land and resources due to economic growth, land-use change, and change in population structure and lifestyle are some of the drivers of change that impact the mountain ecosystem and people.
  16. Global climate change acts an additional stressor to exacerbate the impact of other drivers of change (ICIMOD 2010).
  17. There are about 204 critical glacial lakes in Hindu-Kush Himalayan region that have a potential for bursting.

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