Protecting glaciers for water resilience

Adaptation and collaboration can reduce the impact of melting Himalayan glaciers.

The Himalayan glaciers are vanishing. Not in slow, gradual increments but in a rush that threatens not only these majestic ice fields but the lives of billions of people. Studies suggest that the region will lose one-third of its glacial ice by the end of the century, even in the 1.5 degrees Celsius global warming threshold. The pessimistic business-as-usual scenarios could also cause the disappearance of two-thirds of the glacier’s ice. Some areas, like the southern slope of the Mt Everest region, could lose higher ice volume of up to 90 percent. Countries like Nepal and Bhutan have already lost nearly one-fourth of their glacier area between 1980 and 2010.