Context: A United Nations-backed research flagged that up to two billion people in southeast Asia can face food and water shortages even as the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) mountain ranges lose up to two-thirds of its ice by 2100.

• The melting is driven by larger anthropogenic modifications of the atmosphere.

Concerns raised by the report

• The HKH region lies downwind from some of the most heavily polluted places on Earth. This threatens agriculture, climate as well as monsoon patterns.
• In the best-case scenarios, High Mountain Asia (the Asian mountain ranges surrounding the Tibetan Plateau) will lose a substantial part of its cryosphere in the next decades and thus a substantial part of its water storage abilities. This will lead to increased water stress in high mountain areas.
• A cryosphere comprises portions of Earth’s surface where water is in solid form, including sea ice, lake ice, river ice, snow cover, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, etc.

Recommendations of the report

• The report recommended shifting away from fossil fuel use in energy, transport, and other sectors.
• Changing diets and agricultural practices to move to net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases.
• The countries in the region need to reduce emissions of black carbon and other air pollutants as well.

The report suggested policies and actions to address the needs of key stakeholders affected by water stress, which include:

• Farmers will need support to design and invest in locally-appropriate water storage solutions, or to shift to agricultural practices that consume less water.
• Designs of new hydropower plants and grids will need to take into account the changing climate and water availability.
• Data and information, capacity-building and early warning systems and infrastructure design will need to do be improved. This calls for sufficient funding and large-scale coordination.

About HKH Region

• It is often referred to as the ‘Third Pole’, on earth, is spread over 3,500 square kms across eight countries including India, Nepal and China.
• It contains the world’s third-largest storage of frozen water after Antarctica and the Arctic.
• Over 240 million people live in the region’s mountains. 1.7 billion live in the river basins downstream, while food grown in these basins reaches three billion people.
• The glaciers feed at least 10 major river systems, which have bearings on agricultural activities, drinking water and hydroelectricity production in the region.