Why you should care about the Third Pole and its crucial role as a global water resource

The Hindu Kush Himalaya region, often referred to as the Third Pole, is home to the world's largest mountain ranges and is facing significant challenges due to climate change. The loss of snow and ice in these mountains is directly affecting nearly a billion people who rely on this water resource for agriculture, hydropower and their day-to-day water needs. It is also a concern for globally traded food supplies – many of us consume Himalayan snow all the time without knowing it, including wheat, maize, rice, pulses and sugar cane.

As the climate warms, it diminishes the seasonal meltwater from glaciers and snowpacks, which has historically sustained local communities and farms. This poses a severe risk to water security, especially during drought years, It could lead to increased competition for water, forced migration and even conflict between water rivals.

Mountains cover over 25% of the world's land area. They typically have wetter weather than the lowlands and so are crucial sources of fresh water. Mountain glaciers and snowpacks act as natural reservoirs, storing water during the winter and releasing it during the spring and summer months. This seasonal delay in water flow helps meet downstream demand when it is highest.

Glaciers provide a smaller but more stable and reliable source of water than the snowpack, smoothing out wet and dry extremes in precipitation. This becomes most important during drought years when other water supplies fail.

For basins with snow and ice, their loss will mean lower river flows in spring and, importantly, at the height of drought summers when people are most water stressed. Asia’s great Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Amu Darya, Syr Darya, Mekong, Yellow, Yangtze and Irrawaddy river basins all depend on snow and ice from the Third Pole for water supply.

Many large populations living immediately downstream of the Third Pole are highly dependent on this mountain water supply. Pakistan, for example, relies on hydropower for a third of its electricity, Tajikistan for two-thirds and Nepal for 90%. The Indus river, which supplies the world's largest system of irrigated agriculture, is projected to feed 319 million people in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and China by 2025.

Population and income growth are increasing demand for water, further increasing the vulnerability of these populations to water shortages. Over the last century, drought has been the most damaging form of natural disaster in the region, with more than 6 million deaths and 1.1 billion people affected.

This vulnerability to water shortages is further exacerbated by the fact that Asian water supplies are among the most undervalued ecosystem services worldwide. The loss of glacier melt water will worsen peak water stress during drought years, raising the risk of conflict and forced migration.

To address these challenges, it is essential to promote better water use and resilience through market and policy options. Efficient water use can be encouraged by reforming water pricing and subsidies, promoting water trading, and investing in water-saving technologies. For instance, switching to micro-irrigation and drought-resistant crops can significantly reduce water consumption in agriculture. Many industries, particularly data centres, could reduce their water dependence by investing in efficiency measures and locating in more water-secure areas.

Governments and development agencies can support these efforts by creating a stable regulatory environment that encourages investment in water infrastructure and management. Innovative insurance products, such as parametric micro-insurance, can be a powerful resilience tool for small farmers to cope with crop failures due to drought, who otherwise may be forced to migrate.

We also need more accurate and extensive data. Water-resource predictions are complex and uncertain – there are almost no measurements in the highest mountains – and this uncertainty is costly for project planners. Effective management requires accurate and extensive data on weather, glaciers and river flow.

Recent advances in measuring snowfall, glacier volume and river flow could provide the necessary information for policymakers, investors and communities to make informed decisions. For example, new methods for measuring snowfall using lake water pressure could provide unbiased, large-area observations that are crucial for refining weather models. Similarly, helicopter-borne radar systems can map glacier thickness over large areas, providing essential data for predicting glacier retreat and water availability.

Here’s how we can support these solutions:

By taking these steps, we can better manage the risks associated with climate change and ensure a sustainable water future for the Third Pole and the hundreds of millions of people who rely on it.

As we mark the UN’s International Year of Glaciers' Preservation in 2025 and Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences 2025-2034, it is more important than ever to take decisive action to protect these vital resources for future generations.