Abstract
The glaciers are the life line of Pakistan’s economy since they serve as fresh water and feed
reservoirs which help in hydroelectric power production and provide water for agriculture. The changing
climatic trends of the Hindu-Kush Himalayan (HKH) region have resulted in the decrease of its glacial
volume such as Baltoro and Biafo. Passu, the glacier whose water feeds Hunza River, is also facing
retreat due to climate change. Changes in the area under vegetation in Passu village due to Passu
glacier retreat have also been estimated using normalized difference snow index (NDSI) and normalized
difference vegetation index (NDVI) which were also derived from the satellite images. NDSI for snow
cover mapping of Passu glacier indicates a decrease of 6.18% in snow covered area (3.0808 km2
) of
Passu glacier from 1992-2016. This was identified as 12.8% as annual in the area of Passu glacier. In
response to this glacial retreat, area under vegetation has increased @ 4 percent per annum since 1992
and it covers almost half of the area (0.981 sq. km area) of Passu village which is fed by the melted
water of the Passu glacier
NAUSHEEN MAZHAR, ALI IQTADAR MIRZA, SAHAR ZIA, ZAYANAH SOHAIL BUTT, MEMUNA GHAFOOR SHAHID, ALI IMAM MIRZA. (2018) An Analysis of Glacial Retreat and Resultant Vegetation Expansion in the Karakorum: A case study of Passu Glacier in Hunza valley, Biologia – Journal of Biological Society of Pakistan, Volume 64 (I), Volume 64 (I).
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