Permafrost, or ‘permanently’ frozen ground, is sometimes called Earth’s ‘hidden glue’ for its role holding together loose sediment, thereby stabilising land masses and mountain slopes.
In common with HKH glaciers and snowpack, high-mountain permafrost is thawing due to temperature rise, and the resulting loss of slope stability can be a key factor in the rising numbers and intensity of landslides and other disasters in the region, which pose massive risks to lives and livelihoods across South Asia.
Unlike glaciers, given permafrost is underground, changes are hard to observe, and its monitoring has been hitherto been overlooked with its thawing ‘inferred’ from other data. Given its role in risks, and unknown contribution to carbon release in the HKH, building greater understanding of the substance and its changes is urgent.
To fill this gap, building on a regional workshop led by ICIMOD in 2022, ICIMOD supported Bhutan’s NCHM to start ground-level permafrost monitoring in 2024, and also strengthened capacity in permafrost monitoring in Nepal.