Scientists have warned in a major new study issued Monday that two-thirds of the himalayan glaciers - the world’s “third pole” - could melt by 2100 if global emissions are not sharply reduced.
Even if the most ambitious Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is achieved, one-third of the glaciers would go, according to the Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment.
Glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya region are a critical water source for some 250 million people as well as 1.65 billion others in the river valleys below. The glaciers feed 10 of the world’s most important river systems, including the Ganges, Indus, Yellow, Mekong and Irrawaddy.