The Himalayan glaciers have not stopped losing mass, although they are losing it at a somewhat slower rate than before. Evidence collected on 466 glaciers by the Indian Space Applications Center from 1962 to 2004 shows a 21% loss of glacier area and a 30.8% of glacier volume.
然而，冰舌的后退只是冰川变迁的三大衡量尺度之一。另两大衡量尺度是冰川物质平衡和冰川融水径流量。迄今为止，喜马拉雅山冰川每年仍在损失冰川物质，只不过近年来的损失速度比先前有所减缓。印度空间应用研究中心（ SAC ）自 1962 至 2004 年从 466 个冰川采集的证据表明，在观测期间，冰川面积整体收缩了 21% ，冰川体积整体萎缩了 30.8% 。