The Himalayas Is Melting: Regional Approach Needed To Address It

Yuba Nath Lamsal:--- The earth is common abode of all human beings and other living creatures. Human beings together with all flora and fauna on earth form bio-diversity, the balance of which is a must for the survival of humanity and other living creatures. The earth and nature feed and nurture the humanity and it is for this reason why we call the earth ‘mother’ or ‘Mother Nature’. The earth and nature have special place on human life and values. Different religious scriptures describe the nature with high reverence. Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism revere mountains as the symbol of sacred nature. The holy Quran states that mountains are like pegs stabilizing factor in the Earth. In Hinduism, the earth is revered as mother, while mountains, rivers and vegetation as the representatives of God. In Hindu philosophy, the entire Himalayas has a special place as sacred abode of deities. In Buddhism, Himalaya has aesthetic and spiritual value. Around 5th century CE ago, a great Sanskrit poet wrote the epic poem ‘Kumarasambhava’ in which he has said that ‘Himalaya is the abode of deities and centre of earth’. Truly enough the Hindukush Himalaya region is the nature’s miracle and nowhere in other parts of the world exist such a magnificent landscape and natural beauty. The Hindukush Himalayas is where mountains touch the sky. In other words, this region is called ‘Himabatkhand’ or land of snow, which includes both Himalayas Hindukush Mountains and plains downstream. The meaning of Himalayas is home of snow (‘him’ means snow and ‘alaya’ means house). The Hindukush-Himalayan mountains were created with the collision of the earth’s two great tectonic plates—Indian plate and Eurasian plate—about 50 million years ago. Since the Hindukush Himalaya (HKH) region is relatively new mountain system, human settlements started in this region relatively late compared to other parts of Asia and Africa. However, great civilizations thrived in this region right from the ancient time. The Hindukush Himalayan region lies partly in South Asia and partly in East Asia. This mountain system connects South Asia, Central Asia, East Asia and even Middle East. The HKH region encompasses a larger landmass of Asia including Nepal, China, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and Myanmar. The Hindukush-Himalayan region covers the landmass of 4.2 million square kilometres, which is less than 4 per cent of world’s land area but has 3.4 billion people or over 42 per cent of the global population. In the newer geopolitical reality, countries of the Hindukush/Himalayan region has a greater role to play in the international power politics. It has been widely believed and said that the 21st century would be the Asian Century in which the role of countries in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya region will have greater place. With power shifting to Asia, this region is likely to see a new form of geopolitical conflict and rivalry that will have serious impact on the peace, environment and development of the region. This is the region where three of the nine nuclear powers—Pakistan, India and China—exist. These countries have unique rivalry and animosity. China and India are arch-rival that see one another as bete noire right from the time these two countries were born. China and India have already fought a border war and occasional border skirmishes continue to take place in the Himalayan border. Additionally, the extra-continental powers are also poking their nose in the region which is likely to complicate the geopolitical situation of South Asia and Hindukush and Himalaya region. If this geopolitical rivalry escalates into conflicts, it will have serious repercussion in different aspect of the region including economy and environment. The HKH region has the world’s largest ice reserves outside of two Polar Regions. This region houses the 14 mountains with over 8000 meters height including the world’s tallest one Mount Everest. This region is known as the water tower of Asia as it feeds ten major river systems of Asia namely Ganges, Brahmaputra, Indus, Chenab, Jhelum, Yellow River and Yangtze, Mekong, Amu Darya, Irrawaddy, Salween, and Tarim Rivers. The HKH region These rivers are the source of water for drinking and agricultural purposes for more than almost three billion people, while contributing to maintain a balance in the ecosystem and supporting biodiversity. In other words, these rivers are the lifeblood of entire South Asia and some parts of East Asia including China, Myanmar and even beyond. A major tributary of the Mekong River which is also known as the ‘mother of water’ that supports the livelihood of millions of people of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar originates in Tibetan plateau. The life of two billion people directly while another one billion indirectly is linked with these Hindukush Himalayan River system. However, recently the biodiversity and ecosystem of this region has been under assault due mainly to unsustainable human activities. The rise in temperature which is understood by the name global warming has prompted climate change in the world and the trend appears to be more precarious in the Hindukush Himalayan region. This is because climate change has already started impacting our environment, ecosystem and weather pattern in a more dramatic manner and posed a threat to human survival. Asia more particularly South Asia is bearing the brunt of climate catastrophe more than other parts of the world. According to ICIMOD report, the snow of the Himalayas is melting in a faster rate in recent years. The volume of snow is declining every year. Studies suggest that if the current rate of snow/ice melting continues, the Himalayas will lose almost 90 per cent of snow/ice by the end of this century. Most of the rivers in the region are snow-fed and they will dry up one day. Of all rivers in the region, Indus River is said to be in greater risk than others caused by the climate change. If rivers dry off, the entire civilization and humanity in Asia is likely to perish. According to the ICIMOD report, the global warming in the Hindukush Himalaya region is greater than the global average. It further states that the HKH region is one of the world’s hotspots in terms of warming trends. In the HKH region, temperature has gone up almost 2 degree Celsius since the beginning of the current century. This region is warming between 0.3 to 0.7o C faster. The sufferers are the people living in the high mountains and also in the downstream. The impact of the climate is growing acute every passing year. The region has witnessed the change in the monsoon pattern, irregular and irrational rainfall, erratic floods and landslide, which often wreaks havoc during the rainy season. The glacial lake outburst has been frequent in recent years causing infrastructural and other collateral damages. Dr Maheshwar Dhakal, joint secretary at environment division of the Ministry of Forest and Environment, Nepal says ‘although not much research has been conducted to ascertain the exact impact of the climate change in the Himalayas, its signs are already noticeable in various forms’. Of many glacial lakes, eight glacial lakes have already burst causing great floods downstream and infrastructural damages, which is attributed to atmospheric temperature rise and climate change. As the negative impact of climate change is distinct in the high Himalayan Mountains of Nepal, human settlement in the Himalayan region has thinned in recent years with people migrating in mass to other parts leading to demographic imbalance. Now the population in the mountainous and Himalayan regions of Nepal has dwindled very fast whereas population in the urban centres and Terai plain has swelled dramatically. Excessive burning of fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas), massive deforestation, agricultural activities, polluting industries, haphazard and unplanned construction of infrastructural projects and unsustainable human activities in the name of development are the principal contributors to higher greenhouse emission and global warming. In South Asia, China and India are the main contributors to the greenhouse emission and atmospheric temperature rise in the Hindukush Himalayan region. Countries like Nepal contribute the least to greenhouse emission and global warming. However, these countries are paying the price due to the wrong doing of big economies as the environment and bio-diversity in the HKH region is worsening. The people living downstream are already feeling the heat as water flow in the Himalayan rivers has slowly decreased in winter and dry season while natural calamities like flash floods and landslide often cause devastation during the rainy season. The Himalayas experienced least snow fall this year’s winter season. Less snowfall in the winter and more snow melting during the summer has been the recent phenomenon which has thinned the ice layer of the Himalayas. The ICIMOD report states that glaciers in the Central and Eastern Himalaya are shrinking at 40cm/year, and some are receding up to 30m/year. The Mount Everest is expected to lose 90 per cent ice by the end of this century. Such reports have sounded alarm to the policymakers and environmentalists of the region more particularly in Nepal. This is something governments and all other stakeholders need to take seriously and act accordingly and collectively to address the problem so that humanity will continue to thrive. Countries of the region have been sensitive of the situation and accordingly adopted policy and plans to mitigate the climate change induced problems. Nepal is a Himalayan country or a frontline country in the battle against climate change in the Himalayas that houses eight over 8000 meters peaks including the tallest Mount Everest. The Himalayas is Nepal’s identity and civilization. Nepal’s culture, economy, security, livelihood and development are deeply rooted with the Himalayas. Nepal Government has taken the rise in atmospheric temperature in the Himalayas more seriously and has accordingly adjusted and integrated government’s policies and development programmes with that of climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience plans and also with the UN sustainable development goals. In addition, Nepal has been actively and vocally raising the issue of climate change and its impact on the Himalayas in regional and international forums. The government has started to convene Sagarmath Sambad (Everest Dialogue) annually brining international leaders and internationally acclaimed experts to discuss the problems and action to be taken to address the climate change and save Himalaya’s serene nature. The mountain people are the custodians of Himalayas but their livelihood now has been at risk with the Himalayan ecosystem coming under threat due to massive greenhouse emission in the neighbourhood and also in the industrialized countries. Against this background, the counties of the region are required to act collectively with regional approach to tackle this common problem.