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The world is getting warmer. This can cause glaciers to melt and within the next 10 years, water from Himalayan lakes can come hurtling down in torrents, and result in floods which could threaten thousands of lives.

According to a recent report of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), global warming is not only changing the ecology of the Himalaya but also putting human lives to risks. It states that nearly 50 high Himalayan lakes could flood their banks in the next five to 10 years, sending the water crashing down the mountains.

There has been a rise of one degree Celsius in temperature since the mid 1970s causing snowfields and glaciers to melt and fill the Himalayan lakes. The UNEP has warned that if nothing is done, people and animals could be killed and bridges and farmlands destroyed. The report also points out that lake floods are not new. These have become more frequent in the last three decades. A lake in Nepal destroyed 14 bridges and caused US $1.5 million damage to a power plant in 1985.

UNEP scientists, working with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development in Kathmandu, Nepal, found at least 44 lakes in Nepal and Bhutan that were filling up so rapidly that they were in danger of bursting their banks.

Klaus Toepfer, UNEP executive director, said these findings were "another compelling reason" to act to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases. UNEP said money was also desperately needed to fund projects to draw water from the lakes before they can flood. The water can then be used for power generation or irrigation.

Programmes have already been started at three lakes, but it is estimated it would cost nearly US $3 million per lake. UNEP is also helping governments of Nepal and Bhutan to put in place "early warning" systems that will help them warn communities about impending floods.

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