The glaciers of the Himalaya are melting like an ice lolly in the sun due to climate change. In just forty years they have lost more than a quarter of their surface area, and the rate at which they are melting has doubled since the turn of the century. The disappearance of these glaciers foreshadows a dramatic future for one billion people: the inhabitants of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan depend on them for their water supply.

Melting faster than ever

The alarm was raised by the study Acceleration of ice loss across the Himalayas over the past 40 years, coordinated by Joshua Maurer, a researcher at the Lamont Doherty Earth observatory at Columbia University, and published in the journal Science Advances. According to the study, which analysed satellite data collected from the mid-1970s onwards, since 2000 the melting of the glaciers of the planet's so-called "third pole" has doubled. The glaciers have begun to lose almost half a metre of ice every year, twice the amount of melting recorded between 1975 and 2000.

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The impact of climate change

The researchers compared changes in ice thickness across 650 Himalayan glaciers over two time intervals — 1975–2000 and 2000–2016 — finding a consistent loss of ice along the 2,000-kilometre mountain range studied, caused by atmospheric warming triggered by human activities. The study found that eight billion tonnes of ice are lost every year, the equivalent of 3.2 million Olympic swimming pools. "This is the clearest picture yet of how fast Himalayan glaciers have been melting since 1975," said Joshua Maurer. "There is no doubt that this alarming situation is the result of the climate crisis," commented Joerg Schaefer, one of the study's authors.

Asia without water

As revealed by the Hindu kush Himalaya assessment report, published last February, if global temperatures were to rise by two degrees, two thirds of the Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2100. Even if the increase were limited to 1.5 degrees, one third of the ice would be condemned regardless. As noted, this represents a tragedy for the hundreds of millions of people living in mountain areas and in the river valleys below, who depend on glacial meltwater for water, food and energy. The melting of the glaciers will also trigger devastating floods that will strike valley populations. "This is the aspect of the climate crisis you haven't heard about," declared Philippus Wester of the Centro internazionale per lo sviluppo integrato delle montagne. "Water supplies are increasingly uncertain and irregular and will affect the lives of one billion people living downstream of the Himalayan mountains in South Asia."

We need to cool the planet

Temperature data for the area analysed show an average increase of 1 degree for the period 2000–2016 compared to 1975–2000. The climate crisis caused by humans and their continued use of fossil fuels spares not even the roof of the world; the path forward — should there be any remaining doubt — is only one: zeroing out emissions and working to lower global temperatures.