The Cryosphere
The Cryosphere
TC
Articles | Volume 20, issue 7
Articles | Volume 20, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-4005-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-4005-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 20, issue 7
Brief communication
 | Highlight paper
 | 
21 Jul 2026
Brief communication | Highlight paper |  | 21 Jul 2026

Brief communication: Temperature-driven shrinkage of a disappearing Himalayan glacier

Koji Fujita and Rijan B. Kayastha

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-4005-2026-supplement

Data sets

Daily meteorological data observed at Trakarding Glacier AWS (2022-2023) in the Rolwaling region, Nepal Himalaya Koji Fujita https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18502771

Daily temperature and stake-based mass balance observed at Glacier AX010 in 1978 and the 1990s in the Shorong region, Nepal Himalaya Koji Fujita https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18503128

Hypsometry of Glacier AX010 in the Shorong region, Nepal Himalaya Koji Fujita https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18503308

GNSS data around Glaciers AX010 and AX000 surveyed in 2008 and 2023 in the Shorong region, Nepal Himalaya Koji Fujita https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18503873

Drone-based orthomosaic and DEM of Glaciers AX010 and AX000 surveyed in 2023 in the Shorong region, Nepal Himalaya Koji Fujita https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18504092

Simulated annual mass balance of Glacier AX010 in the Shorong region, Nepal Himalaya Koji Fujita https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20945457

RA5 hourly data on pressure levels from 1940 to present H. Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.bd0915c6

ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1940 to present H. Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.adbb2d47

Accelerated global glacier mass loss in the early twenty-first century R. Hugonnet et al. https://doi.org/10.6096/13

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Editorial statement
This paper describes the rapid, recent decline of Glacier AX010, the glacier with the oldest observational mass balance record in the Nepal Himalayas. It also discusses the likely disappearance of the glacier within the next two decades, highlighting the ongoing importance of monitoring small glaciers in high mountain regions given their vulnerability to climate warming.
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Short summary
Glacier AX010 in Nepal, monitored since the 1970s, has been shrinking at an accelerating rate, mainly due to rising temperatures. Drone surveys, modeling, and reanalysis data show mass loss began in the early 1970s and intensified after 2000. While rising temperatures drive shrinkage, precipitation changes have neither accelerated nor mitigated mass loss. At the current rate, the glacier may disappear within 10–20 years.
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