Animation of satellite images revealing the flow of the Baltoro Glacier in the Karakoram Range, Pakistan

(NASA/EO/Joshua Stevens)

At a Glance

The slowing impacts freshwater availability in India, Pakistan and China.Mountain glaciers are propelled — or creep — by gravity pulling on its mass.As glaciers thin and lose mass, they slow down.

The slow, perpetual movement of Asia's high glaciers is being slowed by ice loss, which is impacting freshwater availability in India, Pakistan and China, a NASA-led study found.

Analyzing more than 2 million pairs of U.S. Geological Survey/NASA Landsat satellite images from 1985 to 2017, scientists determined that 94 percent of the differences detected in flow rates could be linked , according to a press release.

While it has been clear that glaciers worldwide, including those in Asia, have been losing ice for years, it was unclear how that has impacted melt rates, the researchers note.

"The rate at which they will disappear in the future depends on how they adjust to a warming climate," said Amaury Dehecq of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and lead author of the new in Nature Geoscience.

(MORE: Greenland's Ice Sheet Melt Rate Is 'Off the Charts,' Study Says)

Mountain glaciers are propelled — or creep — when gravity pulls on their mass. As glaciers thin and lose mass, they slow down. Because glaciers don't melt until they reach warming temperatures further down the mountain, less freshwater melt is generated as they slow.

The reverse has been observed on glaciers that thicken over a prolonged cold period. In those cases, melt flow increases slightly.

"What's surprising about this study is that the relationship between thinning and flow speed is so consistent," said Noel Gourmelen, a study co-author from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

There are other factors that can influence a glacier's creep, including the amount of water lubricating the glacier from below, the scientists noted.