Climate change in Himalayas: Impacts on lives and livelihoods

Climate change is emerged as an issue of great concern for the nations around the world. It affects virtually all physical, biological and human systems on this planet. However, the impacts are particularly severe for highly climate sensitive environments like Himalayas. The impacts of climate change are well observed in the Himalayas in the form of increasing temperature, melting glaciers, formation of glacial lakes, glacial lakes outburst floods (GLOFs) event and changing biodiversity and the ecosystems. Often referred as the ‘Third Pole’ or the ‘Water Tower of Asia’, Himalayas host largest concentration of glaciers outside the polar region which feed 10 of giant Asian rivers. Himalayas provide lifeline for half a billion people in the mountains and more than 1.3 billion people in the river basins who depend directly or indirectly on mountain resources for food, water, hydroelectricity, timber, biodiversity, and niche products. Climate change is a critical issue in the Himalayas not only because it adversely affects ecosystem of the region but also because it could have serious repercussions for mountain people. Due to fragile ecology and inaccessibility and poor economic development, people in the mountains have limited livelihood options. They depend heavily on agriculture, livestock rearing, forest products and tourism which are highly sensitive to climate change. Thus, any adverse impact on mountain resources will eventually have adverse effects on the life and livelihoods of mountain people. Although data about human well being in the Himalayas is scant, the climate change effects are likely to be experienced by them, among other things, on their livelihoods, health, and natural resource security. Thus, in this paper an attempt has been made to review the available literature on the climate change trends in the Himalayas and their subsequent impacts on mountain people.