One-third of the ice in the Himalayas and Hindu Kush mountains will be lost due to rising temperatures by the end of the century, even if nations take aggressive measures to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, according to a landmark new report by more than 200 scientists.
One-third of the ice in the Himalayas and Hindu Kush mountains will be lost due to rising temperatures by the end of the century, even if nations take aggressive measures to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, according to a landmark new report by more than 200 scientists.
The Hindu Kush/Himalaya region, along with the Tibetan Plateau, are often referred to as the world’s “Third Pole” behind Antarctica and the Arctic. These glaciated regions are a major source of water for nearly 2 billion people, with rivers that originate in the mountains supplying drinking water and supporting agriculture in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and China.
“This is the climate crisis you haven’t heard of,” Philippus Wester, a water and climate scientist at the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), said in a statement. “Global warming is on track to transform the frigid, glacier-covered mountain peaks of the [Hindu Kush/Himalaya] cutting across eight countries to bare rocks in a little less than a century.”
Read more at Yale Environment 360
Photo: Snow and ice in the Himalayas, near the China–India border. CREDIT: NASA JOHNSON
