The people affected would include some of the world’s most vulnerable communities in mountains and those living in the plains who rely on river systems that originate in the mountains -- known as the water towers of Asia, the Himalayas feed 10 major rivers such as the Yangtze, the Ganges and the Indus.

    “If glaciers are melting then first people get a little bit more water, but then there comes a time when actually there will be a reduction in contribution of glacier melt into our river systems,” according to Molden. “Some of the poorest people and most vulnerable people are living there, who do not really add to greenhouse gases but who are impacted by this kind of change.”

    The study says that one-third of the 250 million people living in the mountains live on less that $2 a day.



user-inactivated:

To somewhat circle back to this post . . .

This is also an issue that concerns the albedo effect. The ice caps on the mountains are white, while the soil underneath is much darker. As I currently understand the issue, the more those caps melt, the more heat will build up in the region, causing a positive feedback loops that accelerates melting.


posted 1896 days ago