The Hindu Kush Himalayas, which is the source of more than 5 major river systems, saw a record glacier melt. This rapid melting is predicated to precipitate various risks to the environment, species and species variety and the millions of people who rely on the frozen regions for water supply. From the State of the Cryosphere 2024 report, it is evident that the rate of glacier shrinkage in the HKH region is steep meaning the increase in natural catastrophes and effect water availability.
The HKH glaciers are rapidly retreating, and scientific atlases show that if there is no control on global warming they may loose as much as 80 percent population by the end of the century. This accelerated rate is due to climate change, or global warming, that exhibits shifting that surfaces exposed to sunlight experience record low snow cover and surface temperatures due to reduced snow cover. The HKH region, extending from Afghanistan to Myanmar, is the largest non-polar Glaciered area and is a major source of water for 12 large river basins that feed more than 240 million people in the region and 1.65 billion people downstream.
The faster speed of melting in the glaciers of the HKH region has social and ecological impacts significantly felt by both ecological systems as well as human beings. Glaciers are calving and this has caused formation of glacial lakes, the formation of these lakes creates a real threat of GLOFs (glacial lake outburst floods). These floods sometimes lead to devastating affects to peoples’ lives, their buildings, and the natural environment downstream. The two are the Kedarnath floods in 2013, and the Chamoli event that happened in 2021, which saw disastrous effects of GLOF.
Besides the raw threats of floods, the melt water is also influencing the water availability in the region in addition to the immediate consequences of floods. The HKH region is critically important because it provides water for agriculture, drinking and hydropower. It is believed that as glaciers are gradually receding, water resource during the dry season is likely to be a scarce resource thus triggering conflicts over the resource.
Glacier melting in the HKH region presents key challenges and these can be better overcome through an integrated approach of mitigation, adaptation, and international frameworks. Prevention measures involve the lowering of emissions of gases that cause greenhouse effect and in the process, slow down other instances of glacier melting. This includes moving to green energy, enhancing the utilization of energy and encouraging the use of sustainable land.
There are various measures that have to be taken to cushion the impacts of glacier melting as regards adaptation measures. Some of these mitigation measures include: Water resources conservation, Disaster management and Information System which includes developing warning system of GLOFs and increasing structural stability in view of natural disasters. To that extent, international cooperation serves a very important function of enhancing knowledge exchange and sharing of resources and experience to tackle the problems accumulating in countries in the HKH region.
How Cryosphere Loss in the Hindu is Becoming a Catalyst for Intensifying Catastrophic Hazards?
The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region referred to as the ‘Third Pole’ contains the third largest concentration of ice in the world and serves as an important sentinel and storehouse of climate and water for billions of people. Even so, the rapid decrease in the cryosphere – glaciers, snow, and permafrost – in this area presents critical risks which enhance catastrophic events. These effects are not only global but also often affect people’s lives and an ecosystem all together.
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods
A direct and severe consequence of Cryosphere loss in the HKH region is the raised vulnerability to GLOFs in the region: During the melting of glacier, glacial lakes develop at the toe of the glaciers. These lakes are frequently bordered by moraines, which are piles of debris left behind by glaciers; these moraines can be quite fragile and frequently give way under pressure and thus, the lakes formed behind such moraines are exposed to tremendous pressure, which can cause the whole structure to collapse anytime. Since the water flow from the melt water is often very swift, these natural barriers can collapse, releasing huge amount of water that has disastrous effect downstream.
GLOFs can heavily impact infrastructure, agriculture and settlements as the floods produce massive loses through loss of lives. The floods invoking urges of GLOFs were seen in the Kedarnath disaster in India in 2013 and the Chamoli disaster of 2021 in the Uttarakhand region. Due to cryosphere loss, similar events are likely to become more frequent and intense as it continues to ramp up.
Water Security: Influence of Seasonal Variation
The HKH region provides water to some of the big rivers of the world such as Ganges, Bramaputra and Indus etc. Such rivers used for drinking, irrigation and hydrological purposes to millions of people in different countries. Cryosphere serves as a hydrological source so that these rivers could be sustained during the dry seasons with melt water availability.
Cryosphere loss resulting in a disruption of the balance that is characterized by changes with a higher variation. In the short term, there may be benefits of a higher quantity of melt-water: river flows will be higher. However, as the glaciers are still melting, there are not many positive outcomes in sight in the future as water availability will severely cut down in view of the driest seasons. Such fluctuation results into water scarcity; may affect agricultural production and water for drinking, and hydro-electrical power production, and may give room for water related conflicts.
Landslides and Avalanches
The state of mountain slopes in the HKH region depends on the presence of permafrost and snow cover limiting the reliability of the slopes. When temperature increases and size of Cryosphere reduces, such natural structures as ice and permafrost reduce stability of these slopes. This makes it easy for landslides and avalanches to happen at particular places this are resulted by heavy rainfall, seismic activity or any activities like constructing and destruction of forests.
Rivers may be blocked by landslides and avalanches, which in their turn would lead to the creation of natural dams that can pose very high risks downstream. They can also breach homes, roads and agriculture farmland hence leading to high losses and people displacement.
Impact on Biodiversity
The areas that make up the HKH region possess diverse ecosystems and great bio – diversity. Cryosphere loss influences these ecosystems affecting their habitat and the equilibrium of a system. Species that are adapted to cold environments, such as the snow leopard and the Himalayan brown bear, face increasing threats as their habitats shrink. New shift in snow-covering and glacier melting also influences the temporal dynamics and availability of resources for different species also exacerbating the problem of biodiversity.
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies of Climate Change
Addressing the catastrophic hazards exacerbated by cryosphere loss in the HKH region requires a multi-pronged approach:
- Monitoring and Early Warning Systems: The following measures can be used in controlling the impacts of the identified hazards; Advanced monitoring technologies and early warning systems for GLOFs, landslides and avalanches. An interesting application of big data in real environments is the real-time data on natural disasters to support evacuation and preparation models.
- Sustainable Water Management: Strengthening the institutional capacity for the formulation of innovate and sustainable water management plans would also require that future planning factors in the emerging altered cryosphere characteristics. This comprises water management for instance two options involve conserving water, using efficient irrigation methods and storage structures to deal with fluctuations in water availability.
- Climate Adaptation: Physical integration with local structures and infrastructure, and enhancing development resilience to climate change impacts, including through better infrastructure, income and livelihood, and land management, will help build resilience against Cryosphere risks.
- International Cooperation: As the HKH region is shared, regional collaboration plays a crucial role by sharing the experiences, intellect and expertise to tackle the issues concerning cryosphere degradation.
The Hindu Kush Himalaya
The HKH region emerging as one of the unique and important mountain systems in the world is also called the “Third Pole’ owing to heavy concentration of glaciers and ice fields. This vast and diverse region spans eight countries: The programs include; Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan, which comprise diverse geographical zones, starting from arid plateau to the green valleys.
Geographical Significance
The HKH region covers more than 3,500 km and is situated in such famous mountains as Mount Everest and K2. It is the source of origin of 10 principal river systems, including the Ganga, the Indus, the Brahmaputra, and other rivers that nourishes nearly 1.65 billion population downstream. This makes HKH as a lifeline for sizeable fraction of global population in terms of agriculture, drinking water and hydropower.
Environmental Importance
The HKH region plays a critical role in regulating the global climate. Its vast ice reserves, second only to the polar regions, act as a natural thermostat, influencing weather patterns and helping to stabilize the Earth's climate. Another important aspect of the region, as are its fauna and flora, consist of Snow Leopard, red pandas, and many plants and animals endemic to the area.
Challenges and Threats
However, the HKH region has some significant problems though it looks very big and noble it has a number of challenges. Climate change is considered the greatest threat in that it results in increasingly higher temperatures, which increases the rate of glacier melt. This not only jeopardizes availability of freshwater for millions of people but also raises susceptibility toward GLOFs and landslides. However, deforestation, overgrazing as well as un sustainable land use practices promotes soil erosion and loss of habitat, making the ecological status of the region worse.
Socio-Economic Impact
Natural resource based livelihood activities are a source of income for millions of residents in the HKH region. Some of the economic activities identified include; Agriculture, Tourism and hydro-electric power because they support the various local people. However, sensitiveness of socio–economic structure of the region to environmental changes remain highly sensitive. Their availability is still diminishing; water is scarce, food is also scarce and people are forced out of their homes each time there is a disaster.
Conservation and sustainability
Conservation of the area is therefore tremendously important for sustainability within the HKH region. Due to trans-boundary environmental issues, the eight countries need to engage in regional collaboration in order to effectively address the pressing issues in the different countries. Organizations such as the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) have an especially important role to support sustainable development, including climate change coping strategies and sustaining of the biological diversification in the HKH area.
State of the Cryosphere 2024 Report
The State of the Cryosphere 2024 Report, published by the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI), describes the present state and prospects of snow and ice on and within the Earth. The report “Lost Ice, Global Damage” stresses on increased rate of losing ice and its effects to the environment, economy and the society.
Key Findings
- Accelerated Ice Loss: The findings in the report show that ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are melting more than ever before. Greenland is melting at a rate of 30 million tonnes per hour and floating ice shelves in northern Greenland are thinning by 0.35 m per year on average since 1978. Such a fast rate of ice melting leads to a rate of global sea-level rise.
- Sea-Level Rise: Currently global sea level is rising at a faster rate than the previous thirty years. If the current trends continue, sea levels measured from this point eventually will rise by as much as 6.5 mm per year by 2050. This increase has become a severe threat to all coastal regions and structures all over the globe.
- Glacial Retreat: At the moment, glaciers that are located in different regions of the globe, such as the Hindu Kush Himalaya area, are melting at a more rapid rate. It is hypothesized that the majority of glaciers in tropical and mid-latitude regions would see a significant retreat. Glaciers in the High Mountain region of Asia would lose around fifty percent of their ice.
- Permafrost Thawing: The report also highlights the thawing of permafrost, which releases stored carbon and methane into the atmosphere, exacerbating global warming. This can result in ground instability which presents a major threat to man made structures and natural features.
- Ocean Currents: Rising sea temperatures caused by melting of the ice sheets and glaciers are alarming changes in some currents namely the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). These changes can bring far-reaching effects on climate of the Earth and state of the oceans.