The Himalayan glaciers are disappearing!

The high stakes of melting Himalayan glaciers

By Reenita Malhotra
For CNN
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This article by Reenita Malhotra was surprisingly unnerving. She claims that the Himalayan glaciers, second largest outside of the polar ice caps, will disappear by year 2035! The "Water Tower of Asia," is a vital source of water that nourishes the entire continent. If they were to disappear, the people living in that region could be in a very scary position. The following statistic that the article provided was also very surprising: "Satellite data from the Indian Space Applications Center, in Ahmedabad, India, indicates that from 1962 to 2004, more than 1,000 Himalayan glaciers have retreated by around 16 percent" (Malhotra 1). 16% is a whopping amount, considering glacial size. Himalayan rivers support appx. half of humanity, says Doctor Vandana Shiva. What?!?! That in of itself is enough to become worried. Before this, I really had little to no knowledge of the Himalayan glaciers, let alone the Himalayas. Global warming definitely has had an impact on our planet, and it seems it has had it's way with the glaciers of Asia as well. The article also brings up issues surrounding borders: if this valuable ice were to melt, the water could potentially flow across borders of countries who don't particularly like each other. It's incredible how much water has an impact on the weather, politics, and life in general. I hope that these scary rates decrease over the years.