S1E124: Why the warming Himalayas are a water crisis for half of Asia

Local solutions are critical for vulnerable millions as the
scorching heat rapidly melts snow and ice across the fragile
"third pole".


Synopsis: Every first and third Sunday of the month, The Straits
Times analyses the beat of the changing environment, from
biodiversity conservation to climate change.


As the planet warms, with north India’s plains sweltering under
an unprecedented heat wave, Himalayan glaciers are melting faster
than ever before. On current trends, glaciers in just the Eastern
Himalayas, which include Nepal and Bhutan, will lose up to 75 per
cent of their ice in the near future. 


The accelerated melt will expand existing glacial lakes, and form
new ones. The new and enlarged lakes are a hazard as they can
burst their banks and let loose all the water in flash floods
downstream. In October 2023, a lake in Northern Sikkim breached,
destroying an entire dam and 33 bridges downstream, killing
scores of people. 


But that is only one aspect of the impact of planetary warming on
the so-called Third Pole - which supplies water to around 1.5
billion people. The climate crisis is a water crisis which is
already affecting half of Asia. 


In this episode, Green Pulse host Nirmal Ghosh discusses the
complex factors at play, and their implications, with Kunda
Dixit, the Kathmandu-based publisher of Nepali Times, and
visiting faculty at NYU in Abu Dhabi where he focuses on climate;
and Dr Bandana Shakya - also based in Kathmandu - who coordinates
the Landscapes portfolio at the International Centre for
Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).


Highlights (click/tap above):


2:34 There is plenty of water; just not where it’s needed


3:53 Data sharing is critical but the process is inadequate


7:17 Depopulation of some mountain districts is up to 30 per cent
in the last 10 years


12:20 Appreciating potential of co-designing nature-based
solutions


17:20 Sometimes scientific collaboration is much easier than
political collaboration


18:33 One major concern now: Climate despair and climate anxiety
among younger people


19:30 Failure of governance has led to large parts of the
Himalayan region being in food deficit


Produced by: Nirmal Ghosh (nirmal@sph.com.sg) and Fa'izah Sani


Edited by: Fa'izah Sani


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Special edition series:


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