Himalayan Glaciers May Lose 75% Of Ice By 2100, With Grave Implications For 2bn

News Desk

Peshawar: Himalayan glaciers disappeared 65 percent faster in the 2010s than in the previous decade; the glaciers could lose up to 80 per cent of their current volume by the end of this century; the availability of water in the Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH) is expected to peak in mid-century; and floods and landslides are projected to increase over the coming decades, according to a new research study.

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)’s new report titled ‘Water, Ice, Society, and Ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalaya’, launched on Tuesday, has revealed that unprecedented and largely irreversible changes to the HKH cryosphere, driven by global temperature rises, threaten two billion people and are accelerating species extinction.

Himalayan glaciers disappeared 65% faster in the 2010s than in the previous decade; the glaciers could lose up to 80% of their current volume by the end of this century:  ICIMOD report

The peer-reviewed study warns of grave consequences for the region, which provides freshwater services to a quarter of the world’s population and is home to four global biodiversity hotspots, adding that the “effects of the changing cryospheric on fragile mountain habitats are particularly acute”.

Ice and snow in the HKH are an important source of water for 12 rivers that flow through 16 countries in Asia, providing fresh water and other vital ecosystem services to 240 million people in the mountains and a further 1.65 billion downstream.

The report warns that policymakers need to prepare for the cascading impacts of climate change in the critical mountain biome, which will affect a quarter of the world’s population.

“With 2 billion people in Asia reliant on the water that glaciers and snow here hold, the consequences of losing this cryosphere are too vast to contemplate. We need leaders to act now to prevent catastrophe,” said ICIMOD Deputy Director General Izabella Koziell.

Scientists in the research study foresee catastrophic effects on energy sources, ecosystems, water and food security, and the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people throughout Asia, many of which will be beyond the scope of adaptation.

With 2 billion people in Asia reliant on the water that glaciers and snow here hold, the consequences of losing this cryosphere are too vast to contemplate. We need leaders to act now to prevent catastrophe: Izabella Koziell

According to the analysis, a quarter of the world’s population will be impacted by the cascading effects of climate change in the crucial mountain biome. The report advised that urgent international assistance and regional cooperation are now essential for preventing impending loss and harm and supporting local populations’ efforts at adaptation.

The study also warned that communities and governments need urgent support and finance to prepare for the accelerated impacts on societies and nature that cryosphere changes will cause as temperatures rise, with current funding flows to the region woefully insufficient to meet the scale of the challenges the region will face.

Urgent international support and regional cooperation are now vital for inevitable, near-term loss and damage and to help communities’ adaptation efforts: ICIMOD Report

“There is still time to save this critical region, but only if fast and deep emissions cuts start now. Every increment of a degree of warming matters to glaciers here and to the hundreds of millions of people that depend on them,” Izabella Koziell added.

ICIMOD is an inter-governmental knowledge and learning centre in eight regional member countries of the Hindu Kush Himalayas. Its report is the most accurate assessment of changes to the Asia-high mountain cryosphere to date. It is also the first time their impacts on water, biodiversity, and society have been properly mapped.