Overview

• Peer-reviewed analysis reports High Mountain Asia is losing more than 22 gigatons of ice each year, in a region that supports freshwater needs for roughly 1.4 billion people.
• Using NASA GRACE gravity data integrated with hydrological and meteorological records, the study provides the first satellite-backed evidence that altered South Asian monsoon timing and phase are speeding melt.
• Ice-loss drivers vary by region: increased rainfall is linked to losses in the central and western Himalaya, while reduced snowfall is implicated in the east, with retreat cycling over 3–4.5 and 5–8 years.
• Accelerated melt heightens immediate hazards such as glacial-lake outburst floods, landslides and river flooding, and is expected to shift rivers from glacier melt to rainfall, increasing downstream drought risk.
• The authors urge denser, higher-quality monitoring networks to improve forecasts, while India advances responses including NMSHE research, NDMA early warnings, ISRO-led tracking and Ladakh’s artificial ice reservoirs.