The HKH Snow Update 2025 highlights a significant decline in seasonal snow across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, with snow persistence 23.6% below normal — the lowest in 23 years. This trend, now in its third consecutive year, threatens water security for nearly two billion people. All twelve major river …
The Himalayan glaciers that feed Asia's five largest rivers are in no danger of disappearing by 2035, as claimed in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's most recent report. In fact, only the glaciers that melt into the Ganges are shrinking, according to the most detailed analysis yet of how …
Several evidences show that during the 2004 Sumatra Andaman earthquake, the rupture in the Andaman region did not extend up to the trench. Consistent with the earthquake processes at several subduction zones of the world,
The lofty western Himalayas are being slowly robbed of their butterflies, with at least 50 percent of the species showing a massive decline in less than a decade due to human interference. Studies conducted by the high altitude zoology field station of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) based in …
This publication presents the results of this process: i.e., an analytical and strategic framework for value chain development in the HKH mountain areas. The first part looks at the need to adapt the generic value chain framework to the mountain context, and examines the mountain specificities (unique/niche production, limited accessibility, …
The area around Kunwari Pass in Central Himalayas is the source of a number of streams that include Dhaknala, Karmanasa, Patalganga, Belakuchi and Garurganga. The first is the tributary of Dhauliganga whereas the rest drain into Alaknanda. These streams are known for the devastation they have caused in the past, …
The governments of the Himalayan hill-states and the international donor agencies have consistently advocated disbursal of funds for improvement of road connectivity in keeping with the mandates of a
Reports that the geological record of erosion indicates a fourfold increase in global sedimentation rates during the past 5 million years merited a global explanation. Explanations offered include an increased rate of mountain formation and global cooling. Now Jane Willenbring and Friedhelm von Blanckenburg reanalyse original data sets and use …
Increased erosion associated with the rise of the world's great mountain ranges has been held to be the cause of a prolonged episode of past climate cooling. That connection is now brought into doubt.
The expert group formed by the Prime Minister to assess the actual condition of Himalayan glaciers has submitted its report to the Prime Minister. The report was submitted by the expert group headed by IIT Mumbai Professor Anand Patwardhan. It states that though some glaciers in the Himalayan range are …
The Ministry of Environment and Forest hinted that water flow in the Indian rivers especially Brahmaputra and Ganga rivers were at risk because of shrinkage of glaciers in Tibet. The studies conducted by the Geological Survey of India indicate that the glaciers of Himalaya are receding at varying rates in …
Shishir Prashant / New Delhi/ Dehra Dun May 03, 2010, 0:27 IST Gangotri, Valley of Flowers and other highly eco-sensitive zones of the Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand may be becoming hot sites on the tourist map. But the Uttarakhand government now wants to put up more restrictions on travellers in …
The Uttarakhand capital is likely to get a specialised institute of glaciology, a first of its kind in the country. The study group on Himalayan Glaciers, constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has recommended establishment of a nodal institution for glaciology that could act as a repository of the currently …
Mountain poverty is multifaceted and intensified through such factors as remoteness, poor accessibility, the fragility of the ecosystems, and marginalisation. This complex phenomenon cannot be explained using existing definitions of poverty. In general, poverty levels in mountain areas are higher than in other parts of the same country. At the …
This report contains an assessment of the threat facing the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region from the recent (post-1950s) and rapid formation of meltwater lakes on the surface or at the end of a large number of the region's glaciers. It provides a detailed background to the present situation and aims to …
Of the many concerns shared by the SAARC countries in the area of disaster management, Landslide Risk Management deserves to be placed high on its priority agenda for many compelling reasons. It is a part of their global commitment and obligation to posterity. The world looks up to the SAARC …