Yes, climate change is putting nearly all glaciers across the Himalayas in severe danger, causing them to melt and retreat at accelerating rates.

 

Yes, climate change is putting nearly all glaciers across the Himalayas in severe danger, causing them to melt and retreat at accelerating rates. 

Current Dangers to Himalayan Glaciers

• Rapid Melting: Research by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) shows that glacier ice loss in the region has doubled since 2000. 
• Volume Loss: Scientists warn that these glaciers could lose up to 75 percent of their total volume by the end of the century if global greenhouse gas emissions do not decrease. 
• Thawing Permafrost: Permafrost is soil that has stayed frozen for hundreds of years. As temperatures rise, this frozen glue thaws and weakens mountain rock faces. 
• Catastrophic Collapses: Weakened ice and rock lead to dangerous events like sudden glacier collapses, severe landslides, and floods from bursting glacial lakes. 

Downstream Impacts

• Water Insecurity: According to the United Nations, shrinking glaciers threaten the freshwater supplies, food production, and hydropower relied upon by nearly two billion people downstream. 
• Increased Disasters: Melting ice feeds unstable glacial lakes, making sudden and destructive flash floods much more common across South Asia