Context: A study commissioned by the Observer Research Foundation, has found that the retreat of glaciers in the Himalayan Hindu Kush region is affecting the surface water and groundwater availability in the region.

• It has adversely affected springs – a lifeline for the population in hill areas.

Key highlights of the study

• Studies by ISRO show that approximately 75 per cent of the Himalayan glaciers are retreating at an alarming rate.
• Climate warming is affecting hydrological regimes in the HKH region because of factors like changes in seasonal extremes, increased evapotranspiration, and changes in glacier volume.
• The study forecasts that in all three basins, there would be a decrease in snow and a rise in glacier melt by the middle of the century.
• Initially, there will be an increased amount of meltwater available, but this quantity will decline abruptly as the glacier storage is reduced.
• These retreats will increase the variability of water flows to downstream areas and endanger the sustainability of water use in the earth’s most crowded basins.
• The decline in groundwater due to anticipated decline of glacial meltwater is likely to affect the Ganges basin the most.
• There are 5 million springs in the Himalayas and they are showing a decline because of overuse by an increasing population, but also because of retreating glaciers and depleting ground water levels.

Hindu Kush Himalayan region

• The Himalayas is not only the youngest mountain range, but also the Third Pole.
• The HKH region extends across 3,500 km over eight countries—Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.
• They are known as the Water Tower of Asia due to its reserve of frozen water.
• It has the biggest reserves of water in the form of ice and snow outside the polar regions, and is the source of 10 of the largest rivers in Asia.
• According to an estimate Hindu-Kush-Himalaya (HKH) has the maximum snow storage after the poles.
• Being a major source of water for the rivers, these glaciers are the lifeline for one-third of the population across the globe.

Concerns

• The glaciers are melting and receding at an alarming rate in the Himalayas.
• As per a study, the Glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalayas might contain 27 percent less ice than previously suggested.
• If the Himalayan glaciers disappear our rivers will become bone dry.
• With no water for drinking and irrigation, life in any form would be impossible in the Indian peninsula.
• The region is expected to lose half of its present-day glacier area by 2060, a decade earlier than the previously expected deadline of 2070.