Melting Glaciers In the Himalayas Threatens 2 Billion Lives, Says Study
NDTV
Besides the risk of flash floods and landslides, the region is at a high risk of glacial lake outburst floods with 200 glacier lakes across Hindu Kush Himalaya "deemed dangerous," the report said.
Rapidly melting glaciers in Asia's Hindu Kush Himalayan region — home to the world's highest mountains — are threatening the lives and livelihoods of as many as two billion people downstream, according to a new study.
The glaciers thawed 65% faster in the 2011 to 2020 period compared with the preceding decade and may lose 80% of their current volume by the end of this century on current emissions trajectories, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, or ICIMOD, found in its latest study. This may over time drastically reduce freshwater supplies in 12 rivers that flow across 16 nations in the region, it said.
These mountain ranges, which stretch over 3,500 kilometers (2,175 miles) in length from Afghanistan in the west to Myanmar in the east, are also seeing a shrinking permafrost that can trigger more landslides, the study said. The Nepal-based ICIMOD has eight member nations across Asia including China and India.
"There is still time to save this critical region, but only if fast and deep emissions cuts start now," said Izabella Koziell, ICIMOD's deputy director general, adding that glaciers are very sensitive to even slight temperature increases. "Snowmelt, glacier melt and permafrost thawing will mean that disasters are projected to happen more frequently, and will be deadlier and costlier."