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 long, winding roads leading to hill stations in the Himalayas are dotted with small towns, that act as popular stopovers for tourists, bustling with activity. These towns give an impression of a bustling economy pregnant with the promise of providing the locals a source of livelihood
Melting Himalayan glaciers are threatening to unleash a torrent of floods into mountain valleys, and ultimately dry up rivers across South Asia. A new study, due to be presented in July to the International Commission on Snow and Ice (ICSI), predicts that most of the glaciers in the region will …
EXPERTS from China, Bhutan, India, Pakistan and Nepal reviewed their respective government's policies on water harvesting in the Himalayan region at a workshop at International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (icimod), Kathmandu, on the March 14-16, 1999. Attended by academicians, researchers, government officials, grassroots functionaries and beneficiaries of water harvesting …
A study of ice cores from the Himalaya reveal a substantial rise in industrial pollution over the past few decades, claim some Chinese researchers. Ice cores from remote mountain areas are believed to contain accurate records of atmospheric concentrations over tens of thousands of years. Scientists from the Lanzhou Institute …
According to the Chinese scientists, ice cores from the Himalaya, the world's highest mountain range, indicate a significant increase in pollution levels over the past few decades. Wang Ninglian, an associate researcher with the Lanzhou Institute of Glaciology and Cryopedolgy under the Chinese Academy of Sciences ( cas ) said …
a man with a mission, Arun Kumar Badoni's life work is to put cultivation of rare and endangered Himalayan medicinal and aromatic plants on the development agenda of mountain districts in the Uttarkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. He has been able to grow various endangered high-altitude herbs without any financial …
"If the Indo-Pak conflict over Siachen continues, the Indian soldiers will soon be fighting on melted glacier floor,' says Syed Iqbal Hasnain of the School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. "When there are reports of glaciers all over the Himalaya receding, Siachen can be no exception,' he …
Glaciers , the huge and seemingly sedate rivers of ice, are the source of life and, ironically, death too. These masses not only add to the serene and pristine beauty of the higher reaches of the Himalaya, they are also the source of north Indian rivers. Thus, with global warming …
B etween 40 and 50 million years ago, the Indian subcontinent collided with the rest of the Asian landmass. This collision caused the Earth's crust to buckle and rise forming the Himalaya. The uplift of the Himalaya was a gradual process over a long period. As the elevation of the …
On august 4, 1985, a moraine-dammed glacial lake, Dig Tsho, burst in the Khumbu Himal area of Nepal. Within four to six hours, the lake had emptied into Lagmoche valley, one of the tributary valleys of the river Bhote Kosi, which flows along many Sherpa settlements. For more than 90 …
Glaciologists are arguing on the speed at which the Himalayan glaciers are reteating. Doubts have been raised on the IPCC Report. Read this report on Himalayan glaciology by Syed Hasnain which is leading to the controversy. Glacier research conducted during the last quarter of 20th century in the Himalaya Karakoram …
Although the Chipko movement is practically non-existent in its region of origin it remains one of the most frequently deployed examples of an environmental and/or a women's movement in the South. A small but growing number of commentators are now critiquing much neopopulist theorising on Chipko, and this paper provides …
RAMPANT deforestation by the timber mafia, poor mapping systems and inadequate maintenance of roads in the region may be the reason for recent landslides in the hills of Uttar Pradesh. People familiar with the region's ecology say that landslides are the result of years of indiscriminate deforestation in the Himalaya. …
timber products from precious high altitude Nepalese forests continue to meet the timber demand of homes and monasteries in Tibet. Finished timber products smuggled by the Nepalese traffickers into Tibet is depleting the precious forests in the northern Himalaya. It has also become a source of revenue for the Chinese …
PERHAPS no other geographical location attracts researchers, non-governmental organisations and social workers like the Indian Himalaya does. Yet, despite all the effort and finances that have gone towards sustainable development of the Himalaya, gaps exist. The information available is skewed with rampant duplication on one hand and blissful ignorance on …
a cynic would call it an exercise in futility. A workshop on "Assessing Progress Towards Sustainability in the Himalaya' might not sound like the most exciting way to spend a weekend in the mountains. But this was different. A motley crew of 15-20 representatives from non-governmental development agencies working in …
THE book is a compilation of 42 papers contributed by social, physical and environment scientists who are working with issues that confront the Himalayas. The first three papers deal with the conceptual aspects of human ecology in relation to the environment, from the past to the present, and the effects …
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has proposed a us $25 million-plan to set up a chain of small hydel units in the Indian Himalayas in a bid to wean the local population away from their dependence on forest resources for energy needs. Around 20 units are to be set …
Two black Himalayan bears that were caught in traps in Bhutan's Begana and Yoesipang region were released into the forest by team of forestry officials. Officials said that a small male bear which was caught in a crude wire trap in Begana, had its right paw injured. In another incident, …
