News Climate

Cold War–era spy satellite images show Himalayan glaciers are melting fast

Declassified photos and NASA data provide a picture of accelerating ice loss

Himalayas

MELT MAPPING  Photographs taken on December 20, 1975, by a Cold War–era spy satellite were used to create this 3-D image of the Himalayan landscape.

J. Maurer/LDEO

By Carolyn Gramling

- More than 2 years ago

Declassified Cold War–era spy satellite film shows that the melting of hundreds of Himalayan glaciers has sped up in recent decades.