ICIMOD Reports Warn of Vulnerabilities of the HKH Region to Climate Change

6 December 2011: Three new reports released by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) warn that snow and glacier melt in Asia’s mountainous Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region threaten millions of mountain people and 1.3 billion people living downstream in Asia’s major river basins.

The report titled "The Status of Glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region" presents findings of a three-year research project funded by Sweden and led by ICIMOD, which through the use of remote sensing studies was able to tally the number of glaciers in the region—more than 54,000—and measure the area covered, 60,000 km. According to the report, glaciers appear to be shrinking in both the central and eastern Himalayas, with clean glaciers of the Tibetan plateau retreating at a faster rate than the glaciers of the rugged central Himalayas.

The second report, titled "Snow-Cover Mapping and Monitoring in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas," provides a comprehensive status report of snow cover in the region. According to the report, there was an indication of an overall decrease in snow cover over the decade in the central HKH region and overall, and a slight increase in the western and eastern parts of the region.

The third report, titled "Climate Change in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas: The State of Current Knowledge," reviews the research and data on climate and hydrology, biodiversity and ecosystems, and atmospheric changes and overall provides a snapshot on the changes that have occurred in the HKH region. [ICIMOD News] [Publication: The Status of Glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region] [Publication: Snow-Cover Mapping and Monitoring in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas] [Publication: "Climate Change in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas: The State of Current Knowledge] More