CHENNAI: It’s that time of the year when humongous flashfloods and landslides due to intense downpour within a very short timeframe have made monsoon showers unlike what we had known less than a decade ago.
If a recent report by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is anything to go by, the entire Hindu Kush Himalayas could face massive floods year after year due to heavy glacial melt till the region reaches its water peak by mid-century. After that, the river waters would start tapering as glaciers would have thinned, challenging human sustenance. Call it apocalypse if you will; this may be the beginning of a dystopian society.
Scientists have confirmed glaciers residing in Hindu-Kush Himalayas could lose up to 80% of their volume by 2100. An even more worrisome fact is that researchers say this melt is irreversible. Hindu-Kush Himalayas are home to world’s highest peaks. They span across Southeast Asian region from Afghanistan in the west to Myanmar in the east.
The region also plays host to glaciers, which feed water into 12 rivers like the Brahmaputra, Ganga, and others. Around 240 million people living in mountains rely upon these rivers for survival.