According to the press release issued by ICIMOD, findings of a three-year Sweden-funded research project led by ICIMOD was able to tally the number of glaciers in the HKH region-more than 54,000-and measure the area covered, 60,000 km.

In the Everest area, the data show a marked acceleration in the loss of glacial mass between 2002 and 2005. Glaciers appear to be shrinking in both the central and eastern Himalayas. Country-specific studies have found that depletion of glacial area over the past 30 years was 21 percent in Nepal.

Of these 54,000 glaciers, however, only ten have been studied regularly to determine the net loss or gain of ice and snow (called the mass balance). That handful of studies shows a loss of mass balance, with the rate of loss roughly doubling between 1980 and 2000 and 1996 and 2005. In the Everest area, the data show a marked acceleration in the loss of glacial mass between 2002 and 2005. Glaciers appear to be shrinking in both the central and eastern Himalayas.

The HKH, home to 30 percent of the world's glaciers and this region's glaciers and snow breathe life into the regional monsoon system and feed the headwaters of 10 major river systems that stretch across eight Asian countries-Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.

The HKH region is one of the world's hotspots for global warming. The rise in temperature has been greater at higher altitudes and more pronounced during the cooler months than in the warmer months. This imbalance narrows the seasonal variation in temperature, potentially favoring some plant species over others and already having impacts on agriculture. Warming across the region is greater than the global average of 0.74°C over the past 100 years. However, this change is not evenly distributed. It is most pronounced in higher altitude areas like the central Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. In Lhasa, for example, temperatures increased by 1.35°C between 1950 and 1980.

Meanwhile, other two reports released at the same programme also cite problems of climate change, snow and glacier melt in Asia's mountainous Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region-site of Mount Everest and many of the world's tallest peaks-highlight the region's extreme vulnerability to climate change, as rising temperatures disturb the balance of snow, ice and water, threatening millions of mountain people and 1.3 billion people living downstream in Asia's major river basins.

"These reports provide a new baseline and location-specific information for understanding climate change in one of the most vulnerable ecosytems in the world," said Dr Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). "They substantially deepen our understanding of this region - and of all mountain systems - while also pointing to the knowledge gaps yet to be filled and actions that must be taken to deal with the challenge of climate change globally and to minimise the risks from impacts locally."

The three reports published by ICIMOD provide the most up-to-date compilation of information on the current status of climate change in the HKH region and the first authoritative data on the number and extent of glaciers and the patterns of snowfall in the world's most mountainous region.

The region offers livelihoods to the 210 million people living there and indirectly provides goods and services to the 1.3 billion people living in river basins downstream who benefit from food and energy. Rich in biodiversity, the region is home to some 25,000 plant and animal species, and contains a larger diversity of forest types than the Amazon. Yet despite an abundance of natural resources in the region, poverty is rife. HKH countries account for 15 percent of the world's total migration.

[Source: Nepal News]

News Briefs

UCPN-M combatant's farewell process to start within three days: The Prime Minister-led special committee is all set to initiate the process to bid farewell to those Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) combatants who opted for voluntary retirement during the regrouping process within three days. During the meeting held on January 27, Prime Minister, Baburam Bhattarai, directed his secretariat to initiate the process at the earliest to bid farewell to the combatants. ekantipur, January 27, 2012.

Maoists set to legalize 5,000 war time transactions: The "People's Government" formed by Maoists during the decade-long insurgency had certified some 5,000 land transactions in the Salyan District alone, and the incumbent United Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) led Government is all set to implement it legally. The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) Chairman, Jhalanath Khanal on January 18 warned the (UCPN-M) of dire consequences if the Government's decision of legalizing the transactions of properties during the conflict period is not revoked. Himalayan; Republica, January 19, 2012.

PM advisor rules out consensus Government at present: The political advisor of Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, Devendra Poudel, said that the national consensus Government is not likely to be formed in the present scenario. Since the parties are yet to agree on the leadership of the national consensus government, the national consensus government is impossible now," said Poudel speaking in Nawalparasi District on January 20. Himalayan, January 13, 2012.

No headway on disputed issues as top leaders skip CC meeting: A meeting of the Constitutional Committee on January 12 could not arrive at any decision on the subjects finalised by the sub-committee as top leaders of major parties, who are members of the sub-committee, remained absent in the debate. Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) chairman, Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda, who heads the dispute resolution sub-committee, did not show up in the meeting while Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) chairman, Jhala Nath Khanal left the meeting early. Nepal News, January 13, 2012.

Maoist chairman Prachanda ready to revise his political report for party unity: As the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) leaders continue to present their views stressing on the need for keeping party unity intact in the Central Committee (CC) meeting, chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda showed his readiness to revise his political report to address the feeling of the rival faction led by vice chairman Mohan Baidya. Prachanda expressed his commitment to revise his political proposal for party unity, said the state-owned news agency RSS. Nepal News, January 4, 2012.

[South Asia Intelligence Review]