Himalayan Glaciers Approaching Tipping Point and Threatening Water Security

A new study indicates that the Himalayas are approaching a tipping point as glaciers melt faster than they did a decade ago. This acceleration threatens water security as the region moves toward peak water by mid century, which is the point when river flows stop rising and begin to decline. The report was produced by Systemiq, the Integrated Mountain Initiative, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, and India's GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment.

As glaciers retreat, they leave behind unstable glacial lakes held back by loose rock and ice. These lakes sit above valleys where millions of people live. In India, close to 200 glacial lakes have been identified as high risk, with 56 classified as very high risk. The study notes that only 21 glaciers are currently monitored on the ground out of an estimated 40,000 across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, which spans eight countries from Afghanistan to Myanmar.

These findings follow a glacier collapse in late August along the Nepal Tibet border. That event caused flash floods and landslides that left at least 1,300 people dead and more than 5,300 missing across Nepal and China's Tibet region. The Himalayan region is critical to India's national economic infrastructure, underpinning more than 20 percent of the country's GDP. While the region makes up about 18 percent of India's land, it accounts for roughly 35 percent of the country's natural disasters.