Glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalayas, which provide water for nearly two billion people, are melting faster than ever due to climate change, exposing communities to unpredictable and costly disasters, updated data from a report reiterates. published by experts from the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).
The ice from these large glaciers disappeared 65% faster between 2011 and 2020 compared to the previous decade and they may lose 80% of their volume this century.
Updated data on melting glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalayas have been published in the report Water, ice, society, and ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalayas: An outlook, edited by Icimod.
“As it warms, the ice melts, that was expected, but what is unexpected and very worrying is the speed,” explained the lead author of the new report, Philippus Wester in statements collected by AFP. The reduction of the ice masses in the glaciers of the great Asian mountain range “is going much faster than we thought”, indicates the author, using the most current data as an example.
Glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH) region are a crucial water source for around 240 million people in the mountainous regions, as well as another 1.65 billion people in the river valleys, according to the report.
Based on current emissions trajectories, glaciers could lose up to 80 percent of their current volume by the end of the century, said Icimod, a Nepal-based intergovernmental organization that also includes member countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar and Pakistan.
Glaciers feed 10 of the world’s major river systems, including the Ganges, Indus, Yellow, Mekong and Irrawaddy, and directly or indirectly provide food, energy, clean air and income for billions of people.” With two billion people in Asia depending on water from glaciers and snow here, the consequences of losing this cryosphere (a frozen zone) are too great to contemplate,” said Izabella Koziell, deputy director of Icimod.
Even if global warming is limited to 1.5 to 2.0 degrees Celsius of the pre-industrial levels agreed in the Paris Agreement, glaciers are expected to lose between a third and a half of their volume by 2100, according to the report. .
“It underscores the need for urgent climate action,” Wester said. “Every little increase will have a big impact and we really need to work on climate change mitigation… that’s our plea.”
Wester said improved technologies and previously classified high-resolution satellite imagery meant predictions could be made with a good degree of accuracy.
The world has warmed by an average of almost 1.2°C since the mid-19th century, unleashing a cascade of extreme weather, including more intense heat waves, more severe droughts and storms made more ferocious by rising levels. from sea.
Hardest hit are the most vulnerable people and the world’s poorest countries, which have done little to contribute to the fossil fuel emissions that raise temperatures.
Amina Maharjan, Icimod livelihoods and migration specialist, denounces that communities do not have the support they need.
Most of the population exposed to the new climatic danger posed by the melting of the glaciers in the Himalayas basin do not have resources for adaptation and the regional authorities are not capable of providing aid such as infrastructure maintenance or the guarantee of supply of water. The responsibility and economic support of the countries, communities and companies that cause climate change is essential in situations such as the one affecting the Himalayas, the authors of the new study state.
