Himalayan snow at 23-year low, threatening 2 billion people: report

Snowfall in Asia's Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion people dependent on snowmelt for water, scientists warned in a report on Monday.

The Hindu Kush-Himalayan range, which stretches from Afghanistan to Myanmar, holds the largest reserves of ice and snow outside the Arctic and Antarctica and is a vital source of fresh water for about two billion people.

Researchers found "a significant decline in seasonal snow across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, with snow persistence (the time snow remains on the ground) 23.6 percent below normal — the lowest in 23 years," the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) said.

"This trend, now in its third consecutive year, threatens water security for nearly two billion people," it said in its Snow Update Report.

Key findings:

• Snowfall hits 23-year low: Snow persistence in the Hindu Kush Himalaya was 23.6% below normal in 2025 — the lowest in over two decades.
• Water stress for 2 billion: Reduced snowmelt threatens water supply across 12 major river basins, affecting nearly two billion people.
• Higher drought risk: Lower snowfall means weaker river flows, more groundwater use, and growing early-summer drought risk.
• Sharp basin declines: Mekong (-51.9%) and Salween (-48.3%) saw the steepest drops, followed by the Tibetan Plateau, Brahmaputra, Yangtze, and Ganges.
• Volatile snow patterns: Several basins showed wild year-to-year swings, reflecting worsening climate instability.
• Indus & Ganges under pressure: Indus saw a -16% anomaly, threatening 300 million people’s water supply; Ganges hit its lowest in 23 years.
• Urgent policy action needed: Experts call for adaptive water planning, better meltwater storage, and use of snow data in national strategies.
• Long-term warning: Recurrent snow deficits are now locked in by carbon emissions, demanding urgent regional cooperation.

Sher Muhammad, the lead author of the ICIMOD report, told AFP that "this year the snowfall started late in January and remained low in the winter season on average".

Several countries in the region have already issued drought warnings, with upcoming harvests and access to water at risk for populations already facing longer, hotter, and more frequent heatwaves.

The inter-governmental ICIMOD organization is made up of member countries Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar and Nepal.

It urged countries that rely on the 12 major river basins in the region to develop "improved water management, stronger drought preparedness, better early warning systems, and greater regional cooperation".

The Mekong and Salween basins -- the two longest rivers in Southeast Asia supplying water to China and Myanmar -- had lost around half of their snow cover, it noted.

Pema Gyamtsho, ICIMOD's director general, called for changes in policy to address the low snow levels in the long term.

"Carbon emissions have already locked in an irreversible course of recurrent snow anomalies in the HKH (Hindu Kush-Himalayas)," Gyamtsho said.

Asia is the region most affected by climate-related disasters, according to the UN's World Meteorological Organization, which reported last month that five of the past six years have seen the most rapid glacier retreat on record.