ISLAMABAD, April 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Snowfall in Asia's Hindu Kush-Himalayan 
mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion 
people dependent on snowmelt for water, scientists warned in a report on 
Monday.

The Hindu Kush-Himalayan range, which stretches from Afghanistan to Myanmar, 
holds the largest reserves of ice and snow outside the Arctic and Antarctica 
and is a vital source of fresh water for about two billion people.

Researchers found "a significant decline in seasonal snow across the Hindu 
Kush Himalaya region, with snow persistence (the time snow remains on the 
ground) 23.6 percent below normal - the lowest in 23 years," the 
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) said.

"This trend, now in its third consecutive year, threatens water security for 
nearly two billion people," it said in its Snow Update Report.

The study also warned of "potential lower river flows, increased groundwater 
reliance, and heightened drought risk".

Sher Muhammad, the lead author of the ICIMOD report, told AFP that "this year 
the snowfall started late in January and remained low in the winter season on 
average".

Several countries in the region have already issued drought warnings, with 
upcoming harvests and access to water at risk for populations already facing 
longer, hotter, and more frequent heatwaves.

The inter-governmental ICIMOD organisation is made up of member countries 
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.

It urged countries that rely on the 12 major river basins in the region to 
develop "improved water management, stronger drought preparedness, better 
early warning systems, and greater regional cooperation".

The Mekong and Salween basins -- the two longest rivers in Southeast Asia 
supplying water to China and Myanmar -- had lost around half of their snow 
cover, it noted.

Pema Gyamtsho, ICIMOD's director general, called for changes in policy to 
address the low snow levels in the long term.

"Carbon emissions have already locked in an irreversible course of recurrent 
snow anomalies in the HKH (Hindu Kush-Himalayas)," Gyamtsho said.

Asia is the region most affected by climate-related disasters, according to 
the UN's World Meteorological Organization, which reported last month that 
five of the past six years have seen the most rapid glacier retreat on 
record.