Himalayan Glaciers Melting Faster, Water Security at Risk: Study
A new study finds Himalayan glaciers are melting faster than a decade ago, threatening water security for millions and raising risks from unstable glacial lakes.
The Himalayas are edging towards a tipping point, with glaciers retreating faster than they did a decade ago and the region approaching "peak water" by the middle of the century, according to a study released this month.
The research was carried out by the sustainability advisory firm Systemiq along with the Integrated Mountain Initiative, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development and India's G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment.
It found that the loss of glacier mass across the Himalayas has accelerated in recent decades. Ground monitoring remains sparse: only 21 glaciers are currently tracked on the ground out of an estimated 40,000 across the Hindu Kush-Himalaya region, a mountain system that stretches across eight countries from Afghanistan to Myanmar.
As the glaciers pull back, they are leaving behind unstable glacial lakes, held in place by little more than loose rock and ice, sitting above valleys where millions of people live.
In India, close to 200 glacial lakes have been identified as high risk, with 56 placed in the "very high risk" category, leaving large populations downstream exposed.
The findings follow the collapse of a Himalayan glacier in late August along the Nepal-Tibet border, which triggered cascading landslides and flash floods in the valleys below. At least 1,300 people have been confirmed dead and more than 5,300 remain missing across Nepal and China's Tibet region.
The study also points to the wider economic stakes. The Himalayas underpin more than 20% of India's GDP, making the region a key part of the country's national economic infrastructure on which hundreds of millions of people depend.
Although the Himalayan region accounts for around 18% of India's land area, it records roughly 35% of the country's natural disasters.
As the region nears peak water — the point at which river flows stop rising and begin to decline — the consequences for water security are expected to be profound.