Melting Himalayan glaciers: What's at stake and how it will impact us

Global warming is reducing our resources, and making life more perilous along the way. The rivers of the Himalayas are just one more example

A new report has warned that even if global warming is held at 1.5 degrees Celsius, we will still lose a third of the glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya (HKH) region. What does that mean for rivers that flow down these mountains, and the people who depend on them?

The HKH region is home to the tallest mountains on Earth, and also to the source of rivers that sustain close to 2 billion people. These rivers supply agriculture with water and with sediments that fertilise soils in valleys and the floodplain.

Some of these rivers are hugely culturally significant. The