NASA satellite data reveals plant life expanding around Mt Everest; linked to climate change

As per NASA satellite data, researchers are of the view that plant life in the region around Mount Everest is expanding. The researchers have also measured the extent of plants growing between the snow line and tree line, which is also known as the subnival vegetation.

Referring to this, Dr. Karen Anderson of the Environment and Sustainability Institute stated that there are now more areas that are covered in plants than there were in 1993. Scientists from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, who used NASA’s satellite data from 1993 to 2018, found that a small yet significant increase in vegetation across four height brackets, i.e., from 4150 m to 6000 m above the sea level.
Further, as per a study that has been published in Global Change Biology, this phenomenon might likely increase flood situation in the vast Hindu Kush Himalayan region, which is Asia’s largest source of water. Anderson also added that plants and water cycle are linked; when plants start growing, it changes the way the water cycle behaves in those areas.
A lot of research on ice melting has been conducted in the Himalayan region, including a study that showed how the rate of ice loss doubled between 2000 and 2016, he mentioned. Anderson stated that snow falls and melts here seasonally, and what impact the changing subnival vegetation will have on this aspect of the water cycle is not yet known. It is very vital as this region feeds the 10 largest rivers in Asia.
Climate change has already had visible effects on Himalayan communities; as per a 2019 study from Columbia University, it was found that the melting of Himalayan glaciers has doubled since 2000.