Behind the ski guide Darya - peak Pogrebietskovo and peak Lokomotiv. The Tuyuksu shoulder is on the left. Photo: Darya Ponomaryova.

Glacier melting threatens the future water supply of Kazakhstan’s largest city

The Tuyuksu glacier is one of the better known in Central Asia. However, all that knowledge is not enough to stop it relentless melting, which puts millions at risk of water shortages.
The Tuyuksu glacier is one of the better known in Central Asia. However, all that knowledge is not enough to stop it relentless melting, which puts millions at risk of water shortages.

The drive from Almaty to the famous Shymbulak ski resort takes less than an hour. On weekends, the road and the resort’s surroundings are crowded. Any mountaineer who continues to walk up in the mountains past the skiing facilities will soon reach the Mynzhylky plateau. The meaning of this Kazakh name perfectly describes what this place was in times of nomads: a field that could welcome a thousand horses. The rutted mountain road would finally bring the mountaineer to the Tuyuksu glacier, the longest-studied glacier in Central Asia. 

“Every healthy person, an adult or a child, can go up till the Tuyuksu station because there is no difficult place on the road, where you would need to climb a steep slope,” explained Darya Ponomaryova, a ski guide from Almaty. During the summer lockdown, she used to literally live at the snow heights of the Northern Tien Shan for several days. Tuyuksu extends from 3478 m to 4219 m above sea level, according to the World Glacier Monitoring Service, which makes breathing difficult. 

“The glacier is pretty large and flat. You need to walk about three kilometers by the large valley, slowly gaining altitude, ” described Ponomareva. The glacier is 2.6 km long and has a surface area of 2.28 km2, as it was stated in 2016. Though the Tuyuksu is well known to citizens and tourists, its importance goes beyond the landscape: it provides Almaty’s local population with fresh drinking water

Future water supply

Glaciers are fabulous climate barometers: they just melt when it gets warmer. Increasing temperatures make them melt faster in summer and don’t let them accumulate enough snow in winter. “I saw with my own eyes how the glacier was melting by half a meter or by a meter in ten days. And in a month by two or three meters in some places. […] Globally there are all the signs that the glacier is retreating, leaving us less water stored in the ice,” said Alexey Golenko, a former researcher at the Institute of Geography and Water Security. He fears that the research station will one day see how the Tuyuksu disappears. 

The glacier has been melting at least since the mid-19th century, but the process has accelerated since 2000, according to Nikolay Kassatkin, one of the glaciologists at the Institute of Geography and Water Security. He has been working for the Institute for 25 years. 

The water from the Tuyuksu is vital for the Almaty region, which doesn’t have many big rivers. If greenhouse gas emissions are not drastically cut down and global warming doesn’t slow down, people and agriculture will certainly face water shortages.

“The population has increased, while strategic water reserves have shrunk. And we know that Kazakhstan doesn’t have a lot of drinking water,” warned Nikolay Kassatkin, taking into account the surface of that giant country with a continental and dry climate.

We have oil, we have gas, but we lack water,” he added. The latter is indeed the most important of all the resources that a country can have. 

“In the future, it [glacier melting] will intensify the problems of water and food security, and, on the whole, will also lead to social and economical problems in the region,” the head of the Department of Glaciology from the Institute of Geography and Water Security Turebek Tokmagambetov said. 

According to Tokmagambetov, not only ecologists but also politicians are preoccupied with glacier melting. However, that problem is not taken seriously enough yet. Though the country ratified the Paris agreement, in 2018, according to the Ministry of Ecology, global industrial emissions in Kazakhstan increased by 100 thousand tons

As the glacier retreated, stones and moraines are at the place where its leading edge or its tongue was before. Photo: Danara Ismetova.

Living up there

Ten days in the mountains and ten days in the city. That’s what the typical schedule of a glaciologist monitoring the Tuyuksu looks like. At the end of March or in early April they record the quantity of snow on the glacier, just before temperatures start to go above zero. They also check the array of measuring stakes planted in the ice. When temperatures begin to rise, every ten days (and more often in the middle of the summer) researchers need to measure the stakes’ height: when more wood is on the surface, glaciologists know that more ice has melted.

After the end of the melting period, researchers can state if the glacier lost more than it had accumulated in the winter. This work is very physical and requires the highest attention: if one wood stake fell due to melting ice, it would be difficult to fix it exactly in the right place. And this can make previous measurements useless.

When the Tuyuksu station was built more than 60 years ago, the glacier was very close to the little houses of the research team. Now glaciologists need to walk for about at least one hour to reach it.

“Since [I first saw it] the leading edge has retreated by one kilometre. It is not even necessary to peer, you see where it was in 1989 and where it is now. It has lost altitude and square meters,” recalled Nikolay Kassatkin. In 1989 he first came to the Tuyuksu as a student.

During the research station’s existence, the glacier certainly became shorter and thinner. According to Kassatkin, the Tuyuksu has been losing on average one million cubic meters of ice every year. And this glacier is not an isolated case: what happens to it certainly happens to other glaciers in the region. All the findings are regularly sent to the World Glacier Monitoring Service in Zurich.

slot maxwin slot ovo starlight princess live casino slot zeus pg soft slot olympus ibcbet maxwin slot thailand slot pgsoft slot slot mahjong zeus slot digmaan slot mania slot pulsa jdb slot slot777 slot shopee slot spade gaming slot thailand slot thailand slot thailand slot gacor slot mahjong roulette habanero sv388 joker123 fafaslot pgsoft mahjong wins jdb slot slot thailand slot gacor slot mahjong slot gatotkaca pg soft pragmatic play slot bank bsi slot bank jago lucky neko spaceman slot olympus slot88 starlight princess slot dana digmaan joker123 zeus slot slot mania slot habanero idnslot slot pulsa jdb slot slot hoki fafaslot nolimit city slot princess fafaslot fafa slot slot princess slot 77 slot pulsa slot bri slot ovo slot gopay slot jepang slot 777 slot88 slot ovo slot gopay slot jepang slot 88 slot receh slot 123 joker123 slot princess slot kamboja roulette online baccarat online idn poker dragon tiger nolimit city slot dana thailand slot slot gacor slot thailand slot mahjong mahjong ways slot88 slot dana joker123 slot maxwin slot88 slot dana joker123 slot maxwin slot mahjong slot gacor slot thailand slot mahjong slot gopay slot88 slot thailand slot zeus sbobet slot toto slot server thailand slot thailand slot77 slot gacor slot thailand slot server thailand slot thailand akun gacor slot maxwin slot gacor slot thailand slot kakek zeus Pg Soft Maxbet Ibcbet Starlight Princess Slot Ovo Joker123 Mahjong Ways 2 Sv388 Sbobet Slot Dana Slot Thailand Slot Thailand Digmaan Sv388 Joker123 Mahjong Ways 2 Slot Dana Slot Gacor Slot Anti Rungkat baccarat roulette sicbo casino online sv388 tembak ikan online sbobet slot macau slot thailand slot thailand slot maxwin slot88 slot88 slot deposit ovo situs slot wwg slot slot thailand wm casino tembak ikan slot thailand slot wala meron slot nolimit city slot pg slot gacor slot88 slot50000 slot mahjong slot thailand 66k bet slot daftar judi slot online indonesia slot mahjong ways slot thailand mahjong ways slot gacor slot mawin slot gacor slot gacor slot gacor slot thailand slot thailand slot gacor slot ovo slot gacor slot gopay slot gacor slot gacor slot thailand slot gacor judi slot slot thailand slot thailand slot thailand slot mahjong ways 2 slot pragmatic slot demo pragmatic slot demo pg soft demo slot pragmatic slot gacor 4d slot pg soft pgslot pgsoft pgsoft sv388 slot88 pgsoft slot thailand slot88 slot thailand slot gacor slot ovo slot dana fafaslot slot ovo slot jepang judi slot gacor slot rusia Situs Daftar Judi Slot Mahjong Ways 1 dan 2 PG Soft Online PG Soft : Daftar Situs Judi Slot Online Gacor Slot Kakek Zeus RTP Slot > Daftar Situs Judi Slot Gacor Mahjong Ways 2 PG Soft : Daftar Situs Judi Slot Online Gacor Terbaik Situs Slot Online Gacor Dan Agen Slot Pragmatic Play Terpercaya Slot Gacor: Situs Slot Online Pragmatic Play & Bocoran Pola Slot Situs Slot Online Terbaik Terpercaya dan Terbesar di Indonesia Slot Kakek Zeus Daftar Link Slot Olympus Terbaru Slot Dana Daftar Judi Slot Online Indonesia Paling Gacor di Indonesia Sabung Ayam Online Sv388 Daftar Situs Judi Slot Online SLOT88 SLOT PG SOFT GACOR Bandar Slot Daftar Situs Judi Online Terbaik & Terpercaya Gacor power gaming sv388 lucky neko slot gacor slot gacor slot88 slot kakek slot pg slot kakek zeus slot dana slot maxwin slot server luar negeri slot thailand Link Daftar Situs Judi Slot Deposit Dana 20RB Tanpa Potongan Power Gaming : Situs Slot Gacor Online RTP Pragmatic Play Power Gaming : Situs Slot Gacor Online RTP Pragmatic Play Power Gaming : Situs Slot Gacor Online RTP Pragmatic Play Link Daftar Situs Judi Slot Deposit Dana 20RB Tanpa Potongan Slot Pragmatic - Link Alternatif Judi Slot Online Gacor Kakek Zeus Power Gaming : Situs Slot Gacor Online RTP Pragmatic Play Daftar Slot Dana Daftar Slot Dana Power Gaming : Situs Slot Gacor Online RTP Pragmatic Play lucky Neko Daftar & Login Slot PG Judi Slot 88 Online Power Gaming : Situs Slot Gacor Online RTP Pragmatic Play Power Gaming : Situs Slot Gacor Online RTP Pragmatic Play Power Gaming : Situs Slot Gacor Online RTP Pragmatic Play Power Gaming : Situs Slot Gacor Online RTP Pragmatic Play Power Gaming : Situs Slot Gacor Online RTP Pragmatic Play Power Gaming : Situs Slot Gacor Online RTP Pragmatic Play Power Gaming : Situs Slot Gacor Online RTP Pragmatic Play Power Gaming : Situs Slot Gacor Online RTP Pragmatic Play Power Gaming : Situs Slot Gacor Online RTP Pragmatic Play Power Gaming : Situs Slot Gacor Online RTP Pragmatic Play Slot Mahjong Ways 2 Mudah Jackpot Paus di PG Soft Hari ini 2023 Lucky Neko Situs Slot Gacor Pgsoft Hari Ini Slot Pragmatic - Link Alternatif Judi Slot Online Gacor Kakek Zeus SITUS SABUNG AYAM SV388 ONLINE DAFTAR LINK LOGIN APK AGEN SV388 Daftar Judi Slot Online Indonesia Paling Gacor di Indonesia SBOBET Login Agen Judi Bola Sbobet Mahjong Ways | Slot PG | Slot Mahjong Ways 2 | Slot PGsoft | Daftar Slot Mahjong Situs Joker123 | Joker123 | Joker Gaming | Daftar Slot Joker Power Gaming : Situs Slot Gacor Online RTP Pragmatic Play Agen Daftar Situs Judi Slot Online Terpercaya Slot Kakek Zeus : Daftar RTP Judi Slot Online Gacor Gampang Menang Joker123 Game Slot Gacor Joker Gaming Casino Online Indonesia Power Gaming : Situs Slot Gacor Online RTP Pragmatic Play slot mahjong pg soft slot gacor slot thailand slot maxwin slot spaceman pg slot