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 vanish within 40 years as a result of global warming.

The 25 km long Gangotri glacier, fountainhead of the Ganga, is receding at an average 18 metres annually

As the glaciers recede, the frequency of natural hazards such as floods and cloudbursts will increase

Himalayan glaciers, source of water for the innumerable rivers that flow across the Indo-Gangetic plains, are receding. And that too at a phenomenal rate. As they continue to recede, incidents of landslides, changes in river regimes and floods will increa