A study published in the journal Scientific Reports, a peer-reviewed publication, revealed that ice in the Himalayan glaciers is melting at a rate 10 times higher than the average rate over past centuries, far more rapidly than glaciers in the rest of the world. All told, Himalayan glaciers have now lost about 40% of their area in the past several hundred years, and the increasing rate at which they are shrinking is directly attributable to climate change.

These glaciers are a critical source of water for approximately 1.9 billion people in the mountains and the river valleys below, including the Ganges, Indus, and Brahmaputra.

Worth noting is that the pertinent authorities have not announced –much less deployed- a mechanism to replace the rapidly shrinking source of water. On the contrary, more coal than ever –the dirtiest of all fossil fuels- is being burned to generate electricity.