Looming threat of water scarcity
EDITORIAL: The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) mountain range, stretching from Afghanistan to Myanmar, often referred to as the Third Pole for its largest permanent ice cover beyond the Arctic and the Antarctic regions, has experienced 23-year low snowfall due to climate change. This record decline in snow and ice represents a looming threat to the water security of the region's nearly two billion people.
According to a study conducted by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) – an inter-governmental organisation comprising Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh – the 2024-25 winter snow persistence level (the time snow remains on the ground) has been 23.6 percent below normal for the third consecutive year.
The UN's World Meteorological Organisation also reported last month that five of the past six years have seen the most rapid glacier retreat on record.
At this rate, warn experts, the glaciers in the HKH region constituting the largest reservoirs of fresh water on earth could shrink by two-thirds by 2100, which would have grave implications for the region's water resources, and consequently for agriculture, energy production, and a host of other economic activities.
Pakistan with over 7,000 glaciers, the highest number anywhere in the world outside of the Polar Regions, has already been confronting environmental and humanitarian crises brought on by the changing environment.
Thousands of people in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral zones have suffered due to glacial lake outburst floods and landslides.
The rainfall patterns have also been changing in other parts of the country, causing damage to houses, agricultural lands, and infrastructure. Greenhouse gas emission by old and new polluters, among them India and China, have been making the HKH Mountains warmer than the global average, triggering glacier melting at a truly alarming rate.
In fact, scientists have been warning for long that global warming-induced glacial melting would result in cyclic periods of floods and droughts. That phenomenon has been unfolding for quite some time. In view of an impending hazard, several countries in the region have now issued drought warnings to agriculturists. The people are already facing longer and hotter summers, as well as more frequent heat waves.
The ICIMOD's report comes as a stark reminder of the climate change and its impact on the water flows in twelve major river basins, including our own Indus River System, lifeblood of Pakistan's agrarian economy.
Already one of the world's most water stressed countries, Pakistan needs to take urgent action to address the issue at hand by strengthening regional and international cooperation. It must also expedite adaptation and mitigation strategies to prevent further depletion of the precious water resources.
Towards that end, governments at the Centre and in the provinces ought to focus on water conservation, building small dams wherever possible, safeguarding the livelihoods and well-being of the millions of people who depend on our river system.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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Looming threat of water scarcity
EDITORIAL: The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) mountain range, stretching from Afghanistan to Myanmar, often referred to as the Third Pole for its largest permanent ice cover beyond the Arctic and the Antarctic regions, has experienced 23-year low snowfall due to climate change. This record decline in snow and ice represents a looming threat to the water security of the region's nearly two billion people. According to a study conducted by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) – an inter-governmental organisation comprising Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh – the 2024-25 winter snow persistence level (the time snow remains on the ground) has been 23.6 percent below normal for the third consecutive year. The UN's World Meteorological Organisation also reported last month that five of the past six years have seen the most rapid glacier retreat on record. At this rate, warn experts, the glaciers in the HKH region constituting the largest reservoirs of fresh water on earth could shrink by two-thirds by 2100, which would have grave implications for the region's water resources, and consequently for agriculture, energy production, and a host of other economic activities. Pakistan with over 7,000 glaciers, the highest number anywhere in the world outside of the Polar Regions, has already been confronting environmental and humanitarian crises brought on by the changing environment. Thousands of people in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral zones have suffered due to glacial lake outburst floods and landslides. The rainfall patterns have also been changing in other parts of the country, causing damage to houses, agricultural lands, and infrastructure. Greenhouse gas emission by old and new polluters, among them India and China, have been making the HKH Mountains warmer than the global average, triggering glacier melting at a truly alarming rate. In fact, scientists have been warning for long that global warming-induced glacial melting would result in cyclic periods of floods and droughts. That phenomenon has been unfolding for quite some time. In view of an impending hazard, several countries in the region have now issued drought warnings to agriculturists. The people are already facing longer and hotter summers, as well as more frequent heat waves. The ICIMOD's report comes as a stark reminder of the climate change and its impact on the water flows in twelve major river basins, including our own Indus River System, lifeblood of Pakistan's agrarian economy. Already one of the world's most water stressed countries, Pakistan needs to take urgent action to address the issue at hand by strengthening regional and international cooperation. It must also expedite adaptation and mitigation strategies to prevent further depletion of the precious water resources. Towards that end, governments at the Centre and in the provinces ought to focus on water conservation, building small dams wherever possible, safeguarding the livelihoods and well-being of the millions of people who depend on our river system. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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