Yala Glacier

Yala sits above 5,000 metres in a steep Himalayan landscape shaped by monsoon snowfall, intense sunlight and large day-to-night temperature changes.

The glacier occupies a rocky cirque beneath high ridges. As the ice thins, newly exposed rock, loose debris and changing meltwater paths become part of the landscape.

Yala is both a climate record and a field-training site. Its long observations help explain how warming affects smaller Himalayan glaciers and the communities living downstream.