Scientists confirm Himalayan glacial melting

Millions of people are under threat from melting of Himalayan glaciers, according to scientists carrying out the most comprehensive ever assessment of climate change in the region. According to Tuesday's The Himalayan Times daily, the findings, published in three reports by the Kathmandu-based International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), show Nepal's glaciers have shrunk by 21 percent and Bhutan's by 22 percent over 30 years. The reports provide the first authoritative confirmation of the extent of Himalayan glacial melting. They follow a discredited announcement by scientists in 2007 that the region's glaciers would be gone by 2035. A three-year Sweden-funded research project led by ICIMOD showed 10 glaciers surveyed in the region all are shrinking, with a marked acceleration in loss of ice between 2002 and 2005. Another study found a significant reduction in snow cover across the region in the last decade. Scientists says the effects of climate change in the Himalayas could be devastating, as the region provides food and energy for 1. 3 billion people living in downstream river basins.