Climate change threatens water supplies around the world. Jammu and Kashmir, India, is no exception. The winter of 2023–2024 was the driest on record, with major cities in the region such as the summer capital of Srinagar recording their hottest winter in 18 years. With the world projected to become even warmer, the challenge will be finding long-term solutions to deal with the impact of climate change.

Dried portion of Wular Lake. Author’s photo.

By tauseef-ahmad & sajid raina

The Himalayas span 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) across South Asia. The region is home to over 50 million people and provides water to 2 billion people in a region spanning the densely populated North of the Indian subcontinent and areas beyond the subcontinent such as Myanmar and Tibet. These people rely on Himalayan glacier water for drinking water, energy and agriculture — as do diverse ecosystems of flora and fauna downstream.

Now, this vital resource is under threat. Due to climate change, temperatures are rising and precipitation is declining. The snow- and rainfall that normally build up the glaciers in wintertime are insufficient to make up for the summer melt. This has caused the glaciers to shrink, threatening the downstream communities that rely on the summer flows.

The water levels of the Jhelum River are getting shockingly low. Author’s photo.

Many areas down the slopes are particularly feeling the pinch. The northwestern Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which relies on its famously scenic mountain landscapes to draw in tourists from the rest of the country, is now facing economic pressure.

The Himalayas are drying up

According to an analysis by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information, 2023 saw the warmest global temperatures since records began. The heat has put strain on water resources across the world. The Himalayas are no exception.

A May 2022 study conducted by Zahid Majeed and Muneer Mukhtar of the Geological Survey of India along with Manish Mehta of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, revealed that the Kolahoi glacier has lost 23% of its area since 1962 and has fragmented into small parts. The glacier is the main source of the Jhelum River, which originates in Jammu and Kashmir and waters a part of the Punjab region of Pakistan.

This story was originally published in fairobserver.com. Read the full story here.