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HI-WISE

WATER  ICE  SOCIETY  ECOSYSTEMS

in the Hindu Kush Himalaya
Credit: The Last Glaciers

Snow and ice in the Hindu Kush Himalaya are fast disappearing, with grave implications for people and nature.

Unprecedented and largely irreversible changes to the Hindu Kush Himalayan cryosphere, driven by global temperature rises, threaten two billion people and are accelerating species extinction.

ICIMOD’s new report – Water, Ice, Society, and Ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalaya – is the most accurate assessment of changes to the Asia high mountain cryosphere to date. It is also the first time their impacts on water, biodiversity and society have been properly mapped.

The report urges policymakers to prepare for the cascading impacts of climate change in this critical mountain biome, which provides freshwater services to a quarter of the world’s population.

It calls for urgent international support and regional cooperation for inevitable, near-term loss and damage, and to help communities adapt.

Key Findings

Glaciers disappeared 65% faster in the 2010s than in the previous decade
On current emissions pathways 80% of glaciers’ current volume will be gone by 2100
Availability of water is expected to peak in mid-century and then decline
Vulnerable mountain communities are already experiencing major adverse impacts: loss and damage to lives, property, heritage, infrastructure
Floods and landslides are projected to increase
Impacts on fragile mountain habitats are particularly acute
"While in all key areas, action on climate is either at a standstill or going backwards, this report shows that the HKH region is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of that inaction. We must act now to protect this region and its people."
Prof. Saleem ul Huq
Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development, Bangladesh, and on the Advisory Board to COP28
The snow and ice held in the mountains of the Hindu Kush Himalaya provide freshwater for 2 billion people in Asia.

With glaciers disappearing at an unprecedented rate due to climate change, scientists warn of devastating consequences for people and nature from the region's changing cryosphere.
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Water

Availability of water in the HKH is expected to peak in mid-century, driven by accelerated glacial melt, after which it is projected to decline, with variability in meltwater from glaciers and snow resulting in huge uncertainty both for mountain communities and vast lowland populations. Floods and landslides are projected to increase over the coming decades, threatening the lives, livelihoods, property and infrastructure of people and settlements downstream.
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About the HI-WISE Report

ICIMOD’s landmark Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment Report, published in 2019, focused specifically on climate change, cryosphere, water, and biodiversity and first established the region’s significance and vulnerability in global and regional fora.

This new assessment report, co-authored by 35 researchers and scientists, from 12 different countries, and 23 institutions, zeroes in on the ecological and human impacts of changes in the cryosphere. The assessment went through a comprehensive, double-blind, peer-review process.

The Hindu Kush Himalaya

The HKH stretches 3,500km from Afghanistan to Myanmar, has the highest mountain ranges in the world, the largest volume of ice of on Earth outside the polar regions and holds all or parts of four global biodiversity hotspots supporting diverse flora and fauna. Water flowing from these mountains feeds major rivers including the Brahmaputra, Ganges, Indus, Irrawaddy, Mekong, Yangtse, and Yellow.