A Himalayan Time Bomb Is Ticking

The glaciers of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) form part of the largest concentrations of snow and ice outside the polar realms, earning the name ‘Third Pole’. We look at seven of them in our neighbourhood.

Climate Change: Clear And Present Danger

Climate change poses a significant threat to glaciers in the HKH region.

Though scientists and researchers are investigating the root cause of the Nepal disaster that has killed over a thousand people, the amount of data they have collected over the years point towards climate change as the trigger.

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7 Regions Of Hindu Kush Himalaya In And Around India

Hindu Kush

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Karakoram

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Western Himalaya

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Tibetan Interior Mountains

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GROUND ZERO

Central Himalaya

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Eastern Himalaya

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Eastern Tibetan Mountains

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DISASTER RESPONSE & READINESS

How Prepared Are We?

Studies show the HKH region has been warming at an average rate of 0.2 degree Celsius every decade for the last 50 years. Snow cover has also reduced across the HKH since the early 21st century.

The reduction in snowfall coupled with rising temperatures has implications for a glacier’s mass balance - which is the balance between the amount of accumulated and melted ice. What it means is glaciers are invaluable natural indicators of climate change.

Hence, the Nepal disaster that is being increasingly linked to melting glaciers is the biggest example of the horrors the world faces due to climate change.

Severe flash floods and landslides triggered by a low-pressure system over the Bay of Bengal have affected 35 of Nepal’s 77 districts. The Bagmati River in Kathmandu reached a 30-year peak at 14.8m, inundating Pashupatinath temple precincts. Army helicopters conducted 47 rescue sorties, evacuating 612 people from rooftops in Sindhupalchowk.

AFTER 10 DAYS

On The Ground

Nepal Trishuli 3A tunnel rescue operation

ROSHAN MIJAR, CLASS 7, ROLL NUMBER 31

The textbooks bear the name of this boy who studied at Shri Bageshwari Secondary School. A plastic ruler was found wedged between two leaves of the book, perhaps to mark where his teacher ended her last class. Inside the bag were two pens and a lunch to be eaten during recess. His fate is unknown. He might have been lucky to reach safety, or he might have become a statistic - dead or missing. But one thing can be said for sure - he suffered, like the rest of Nepal.

THE CRITICAL QUESTION

Nepal Was A Warning. Is India Ready For The Next Himalayan Disaster?

The Third Pole, which includes a large chunk of India’s mountainous regions, is warming at an unprecedented rate. What happens to its ice won’t stay in the mountains. It will decide the fate of 1.49 billion people downstream.