Himalaya approaching tipping point, report says

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Snow-covered peaks of the Himalaya are visible in Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, September 6, 2026. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

The Himalaya are approaching a tipping point ​as glaciers melt faster than a decade ago, threatening ‌water security as the region approaches “peak water“ ​by mid-century, according to a study ⁠released this month.

The findings come after the collapse of a Himalayan glacier in late August along the Nepal-Tibet border, ‌which caused cascading landslides and flash floods in the valleys below. At least 1,300 people ‌have been confirmed dead and more ‌than ⁠5,300 are missing across Nepal and China’s Tibet ⁠region.

As glaciers retreat, they are leaving behind unstable glacial lakes held back by little more than loose rock and ice, above ​valleys where millions ‌of people live, the study found.

Peak water is the point in time when river flows stop rising and ​start declining. It is expected to have profound implications for water security. As the Himalaya underpin more ⁠than 20% of India’s GDP, the region makes up ⁠a key piece of the country’s national economic infrastructure, upon which hundreds of millions of ‌people depend.

The study was produced by Systemiq, a sustainability advisory firm, together with the Integrated Mountain Initiative, the International Centre ‌for Integrated Mountain Development, and India’s G.B. Pant ​National Institute of Himalayan Environment.

Himalayan glacier mass loss had accelerated in recent decades, while ⁠only 21 glaciers were currently monitored on the ground out of an estimated 40,000 glaciers across the ‌Hindu Kush-Himalaya region, a vast mountain system spanning eight countries from Afghanistan to Myanmar, the study found.

Though making up around 18% of India’s land, the Himalayan region accounted for roughly ​35% of the country’s natural disasters.

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