From: Jonathan Fowler, Associated Press
Published March 14, 2005 12:00 AM
Water Crisis Looms as Himalayan Glaciers Shrink,
Environmental Group Warns
GENEVA — The shrinking of Himalayan glaciers could fuel an upswing in
flooding in China, India and Nepal, before creating water shortages for
hundreds of millions of people across the region, a leading environmental
group warned Monday.
In a report, the Switzerland-based World Wide Fund for Nature said the rate
of retreat of the Asian mountain range's glaciers is accelerating because of
global warming, and has now reached 33-49 feet a year.
"The rapid melting of Himalayan glaciers will first increase the volume of
water in rivers causing widespread flooding," said Jennifer Morgan, head of
WWF's global climate change program. "But in a few decades this situation
will change and the water level in rivers will decline, meaning massive
economic and environmental problems for people in Western China, Nepal and
Northern India."
Himalayan glaciers feed into seven of Asia's biggest rivers: the Ganges;
Indus; Brahmaputra; Mekong; Thanlwin, formerly known as the Salween; Yangtze
and Yellow.
WWF noted that this ensures a year-round water supply to hundreds of
millions of people in the Indian subcontinent and China.
As glacier water flows dwindle, the energy potential of hydroelectric
power will decrease, causing problems for industry, while reduced irrigation
means lower crop production, it said.
Nepal has an annual average temperature rise of .11 degrees Fahrenheit. The
report said that flows have decreased in three of Nepal's snow-fed rivers.
In China, the report said, the Qinhai Plateau's wetlands have seen declining
lake water levels, lake shrinkage, and the degradation of swampland. In
India, the Gangotri glacier, which supports one of India's largest river
basins, is receding at an average rate of 76 feet per year.
Source: Associated Press
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