The Arctic and Antarctica record "off the charts" heat as polar warming accelerates
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A giant chunk has broken away from a large glacier in Tajikistan, triggering warnings from scientists to mountain villages in the vicinity.
The length of the broken-off ice floe is approximately 2 kilometres (1.24 miles), while its height is 25 metres and width is 150-200 metres, according to an October 28 report from Radio Azattyk and a report on the same day from Asia-Plus. Some video footage of the scene in Tojikobod district, central Tajikistan, near the Ismoil Somoni mountain in the Pamir mountain range, has been posted on YouTube.
The glacier section is described as having moved down a gorge.
Tajikistan's Emergency Situations Committee reported that the breaking away of the ice mass occurred on October 25, but that after around three hours of movement, the floe became relatively still.
The authorities have reported no casualties or damage, but Azattyk referred to experts who said that heavy rainfall and further incidences of ice breaking away could expose some village lands in the path to flooding and landslides.
There are around 14,000 glaciers in Tajikistan, but over the past 30 years, more than 1,000 have entirely vanished due to global warming.
The future of those that survive could be dire if the worst climate crisis predictions come to pass.
Run-off from the glaciers is essential to water security across vast swathes of Central Asia.
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