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This new publication of the Geological Society of India analyses the fluctuations of about 25 glaciers in the Himalayas that have undergone, especially along the snouts, over a period of time to bring out the impact of climate change. The reconstructionis based on the historical records in the form of realistic visual representation and in most of the cases actual snout monitoring. This method of study has been applied to the field of glacial geomorphology and glacial monitoring in Europe to trace changes over the last 500 years. In India this publication is the first ever attempt of this kind.

Himalayas have nearly10,000 glaciers. Twenty five glaciers for which monitoring data, in one form or other, was available for more than a century and in a few cases for two centuries have been included in the volume, to arrive at a broad perspective of the changes that the glaciers in the Himalayas have undergone as observed by snout monitoring data.

It is also true that the snout monitoring does not always convey the correct picture of the health of a glacier or, for that matter, response of a glacier to immediate climate variability. It does, however, tell us, as to how the glacier, at the time of observation is behaving so far its linear movements are concerned. The snout of an advancing glacier has an entirely different appearance from that of a stand-on or receding glacier.

The book has 25 chapters dealing with the subject. Introductory three chapters (I-III) and the chapter XXIV deal, in a generalised way, with the glacier as an entity, limits of past glaciations-altitude wise, short history of monitoring of the glacier snouts in the Himalayas and glacier response to climate change. Other chapters deal with individual glaciers or combination of glaciers as in the case of Surging Kumdan glaciers, Satopanth-Baghirathi Kharak glaciers or the Alukthang group, spread from North West Himalayas to Eastern Himalayas. Chapter 25 deals with comparative photographs of last three decades of the snouts of some glaciers.

A data bank that this compilation is, could serve as a reference material for the research students; for some of the information reproduced has come from very old and rare publications that are not readily available in libraries in India. Same is true of some of the rare photographs of the glacier snouts.