In the 13th Century, Genghis Khan embarked on a mission to take over Eurasia, swiftly conquering countries and drawing them into his expanding Mongol Empire. With his vast armies he became almost unstoppable. But, legend has it that there was one obstacle that even the impressive Khan couldn’t overcome: A towering wall of ice, grown by locals across a mountain pass to stop the Khan’s armies from invading their territory.
U 13. veku, Džingis-kan je krenuo u misiju da osvoji Evroaziju, brzo je pokorio zemlje i ucrtao ih u okvire sve većeg Mongolskog carstva. Postao je gotovo nezaustavljiv sa svojim ogromnim vojskama. Ali, legenda kaže da je postojala jedna prepreka koju čak ni impresivni kan nije mogao da prevaziđe: visok zid leda koji su napravili meštani preko planinskog prevoja da bi sprečili kanovu vojsku da napadne njihovu teritoriju.
No one knows how historically accurate that particular story is, but remarkably, it draws on fact: For centuries, in the Karakoram and Himalayan mountain ranges, people have been growing glaciers and using these homemade bodies of ice as sources of drinking water and irrigation for their crops. But before we get to that fascinating phenomenon, it’s important to understand the difference between glaciers that grow in the wild, and those that humans create.
Niko ne zna koliko je ta priča istorijski tačna, ali neverovatna stvar je da se oslanja na činjenice. Vekovima, u planinskim vencima Karakoruma i Himalaja, ljudi su pravili glečere i koristili ta domaća ledena tela kao izvore pijaće vode i navodnjavanja za useve. Pre nego što pređemo na taj fascinantni fenomen, važno je da shvatimo razliku između glečera koji rastu u divljini i onih koje stvaraju ljudi.
In the wild, glaciers require three conditions to grow: Snowfall, cold temperatures, and time. First, a great deal of snow falls and accumulates. Cold temperatures then ensure that the stacked up snow persists throughout the winter, spring, summer, and fall. Over the following years, decades, and centuries, the pressure of the accumulated snow transforms layers into highly compacted glacial ice.
U divljini, glečerima su potrebna tri uslova za rast: snežne padavine, niske temperature i vreme. Prvo, veliki deo snega pada i gomila se. Niske temperature se zatim postaraju da nagomilani sneg opstane tokom zime, proleća, leta i jeseni. Tokom narednih godina, decenija i vekova, pritisak nagomilanog snega pretvara slojeve u visoko sabijeni led glečera.
Artificially growing a glacier, however, is completely different. At the confluence of three great mountain ranges, the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush, some local cultures have believed for centuries that glaciers are alive. And what’s more, that certain glaciers can have different genders including male and female. Local Glacier Growers ‘breed’ new glaciers by grafting together—or marrying— fragments of ice from male and female glaciers, then covering them with charcoal, wheat husks, cloths, or willow branches so they can reproduce. Under their protective coverings, these glacierets transform into fully active glaciers that grow each year with additional snowfall. Those then serve as lasting reserves of water that farmers can use to irrigate their crops.
Veštačko pravljenje glečera, međutim, potpuno je drugačije. Na sastajalištu tri velika planinska lanca, Himalaja, Karakoruma i Hindukuša, neke lokalne kulture su vekovima verovale da su glečeri živi. Štaviše, verovali su da određeni glečeri mogu imati različite polove, muški i ženski. Lokalni uzgajivači glečera su „uzgajali“ glečere tako što su kalemili ili venčavali delove leda iz muških i ženskih glečera, a zatim ih prekrivali ćumurom, ljuskom pšenice, krpama ili granama vrbe tako da mogu da se razmnožavaju. Pod svojim zaštitnim oblogama, ovi glečerčići se pretvore u potpuno aktivne glečere koji porastu svake godine sa svakim dodatnim snegom. Oni tada služe kao trajne rezerve vode koje poljoprivrednici mogu da koriste za navodnjavanje useva.
These practices have spread to other cultures, where people are creating their own versions of glaciers and applying them to solve serious modern challenges around water supplies. Take Ladakh, a high-altitude desert region in northern India. It sits in the rain shadow of the Himalayas and receives on average fewer than ten centimeters of rain per year. As local glaciers shrink because of climate change, regional water scarcity is increasing. And so, local people have started growing their own glaciers as insurance against this uncertainty. These glaciers come in two types: horizontal, and vertical.
Ova praksa se proširila na druge kulture, u kojima ljudi prave svoje verzije glečera i koriste ih da bi rešili ozbiljne savremene probleme zaliha vode. Uzmite Ladak, pustinju u severnoj Indiji na velikoj nadmorskoj visini. Nalazi se u zaklonu od kiše pod Himalajima i dobija u proseku manje od deset centimetara kiše godišnje. Kako se lokalni glečeri smanjuju zbog klimatskih promena, nestašica vode u regionu se povećava. Zato je lokalno stanovništvo počelo da pravi svoje glečere kao osiguranje od ove neizvesnosti. Postoje dve vrste tih glečera, horizontalni i vertikalni.
Horizontal glaciers are formed when farmers redirect glacier meltwater into channels and pipes, then carefully siphon it off into a series of basins made from stones and earth. Villagers minutely control the release of water into these reservoirs, waiting for each new layer to freeze before filling the basin with another wave. In early spring, these frozen pools begin to melt, supplying villagers with irrigation for their fields.
Horizontalni glečeri se formiraju kada poljoprivrednici preusmeravaju vodu od otopljenih glečera u kanale i cevi, a zatim je pažljivo sprovedu u niz bazena napravljenih od kamenja i zemlje. Seljani podrobno kontrolišu ispuštanje vode u ove rezervoare, pri čemu čekaju da se svaki novi sloj zamrzne pre nego što ispune bazen novim nanosom. U rano proleće, ovi zamrznuti bazeni počinju da se tope i tako snabdevaju seljane navodnjavanjem za polja.
Local people make vertical glaciers using the meltwater from already-existing glaciers high above their villages. The meltwater enters channels that run downhill, flowing until it reaches a crop site where it bursts forth from a pipe pointing straight into the air. When winter temperatures dip, this water freezes as it arcs out of the pipe, ultimately forming a 50 meter ice sculpture called a stupa, shaped like an upside-down ice cream cone. This inverted form minimizes the amount of surface area it exposes to the sun in the spring and summer. That ensures that the mini-glacier melts slowly and provides a reliable supply of water to feed the farmers’ crops.
Lokalno stanovništvo pravi vertikalne glečere pomoću vode nastale topljenjem već postojećih glečera visoko iznad njihovih sela. Ta voda ulazi u kanale koji se spuštaju nizbrdo, teče sve dok ne dođe do mesta sa usevima odakle izbija iz cevi okrenute u vazduh. Kada zimske temperature padnu, ova voda se smrzne dok izvijeno izlazi iz cevi i na kraju formira ledenu skulpturu od 50 metara koja se zove stupa, u obliku obrnutog korneta za sladoled. Ovaj obrnuti oblik smanjuje na minimum količinu površine koja je izložena suncu u proleće i leto. Time se obezbeđuje da se mali glečer polako topi i pruža pouzdanu zalihu vode za prihranu poljoprivrednih useva.
These methods may be ancient, but they’re becoming more relevant as climate change takes its toll on our planet. In fact, people are now growing their own glaciers in many regions beyond Ladakh. Swiss people, utilizing modern glacier growing technology, created their first stupa in 2016 in the Swiss Alps. There are plans for over 100 more in villages in Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Perhaps one day we’ll be able to harness our homegrown glaciers well enough to build whole walls of ice– this time not for keeping people out, but to enable life in some of the planet’s harshest landscapes.
Ove metode su možda starinske, ali dobijaju sve veći značaj kako klimatske promene uzimaju danak na našoj planeti. Zapravo, ljudi sada prave svoje glečere u mnogim regionima izvan Ladaka. Švajcarci su, pomoću savremene tehnologije za pravljenje glečera, napravili svoju prvu stupu 2016. godine u švajcarskim Alpima. Postoje planovi da se napravi još preko 100 njih u selima u Pakistanu, Kazahstanu i Kirgistanu. Možda ćemo jednog dana moći da iskoristimo domaće glečere u dovoljnoj meri da izgradimo čitave zidove od leda, ovog puta ne radi sprečavanja da ljudi uđu, već da bismo omogućili život u nekim od najsurovijih područja na zemlji.