Let’s “Stop the Melt” to Save our Himalayan Water Towers & Slow Down Rising Seas! Start with CWR’s New 13-Factsheet Guide…

Let’s “Stop the Melt” to Save our Himalayan Water Towers & Slow Down Rising Seas! Start with CWR’s New 13-Factsheet Guide…

By CWR 25 March, 2025

It's time to start a conversation on ice as the precarious state of our cryosphere brings a torrent of “hidden” risks. Get the low down with these factsheets curated with top cryosphere scientists/institutes & see what's happening at the front lines from our poles to mountains

Hong Kong, 21^st March 2025 – Happy World Glacier Day! In the spirit of glacier preservation, CWR has launched a “13-Factsheet Guide to Stop the Melt”. Global warming of 1.3°C today means that our cryosphere is in dire straits. Mountain glaciers are vanishing fast and ice sheets, permafrost & sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctica are also seeing rapid losses. Over 14 trillion tonnes of ice have been lost in the last 30 years – this means we’ve on average lost over 50 million tonnes of ice every hour for the last 30 years from our mountains & polar regions!

We’ve lost >50mn tonnes/hr of ice in 30 yrs…

…“Such massive losses have dire consequences, especially in Asia, yet what’s happening in our cryosphere remains out of sight & out of mind”

Debra Tan, Head of CWR

“Such massive losses have dire consequences, especially in Asia, yet what’s happening in our cryosphere remains out of sight & out of mind” said Debra Tan, the Director & Head of Hong Kong based think tank CWR.

“So together with our partners, we have curated factsheets to help inform multiple stakeholders from business & finance to policymakers on the critical importance of protecting our cryosphere. We hope these will inspire rapid decarbonisation to Stop the Melt to slow down rising seas and preserve our freshwater ice banks” Tan added.

This factsheet guide produced in collaboration with – the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI), the Chinese National Committee for International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (CNC-IACS), the Institute of Geographic Sciences & Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGSNRR-CAS), and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) – provides a “Big Picture” view of the latest science and unpacks “hidden ice risks” which have deep consequences for us all. Impacts can literally be earth changing as around two-thirds of planetary tipping points are related to our cryosphere.

Asia is especially vulnerable. Globally, it’s the continent that is most vulnerable to rising seas and more ice sheet losses plus ocean warming could unleash rapid sea level rise. Worryingly, the rate of sea level rise has already doubled in the last 30 years and is set to rise further – 1m is now possible by 2070 if high emissions continue. Even at this level, rising seas will redraw coastlines, impact at least 200 million Asians, sink low-lying coastal capitals and disrupt global trade.

“…overshoot to 2°C will result in huge economic impacts from extensive ice loss…”

Pam Pearson, the Director of ICCI

“The costs and uncertainties to the business sector should our current carbon emissions continue will be enormous, and largely irreversible. We are rapidly moving beyond the limits of adaptation for those economic activities reliant on stable coastlines, or on water supplies from mountain regions where glacier and snowpack run-off provide a needed buffer” warned Pam Pearson, the Director of ICCI.

“We really need to dial back emissions this decade, before 2030. If we do not, then keeping CO2 levels and temperatures close to 1.5°C becomes essentially impossible. We hope the factsheets help stakeholders understand that 2°C is too hot for ice and that overshoot to 2°C will result in huge economic impacts from extensive ice loss; even at 1.5°C, ice is in the danger zone” said Pearson.

Indeed, vanishing ice and record low snowfall in the Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH) are concerning for water supply as these are key components of river flow. The Himalayan Water Towers are the source region for 10 mighty rivers in Asia including the Ganges, Indus, Mekong, Yangtze & Yellow Rivers. Not only do one in two Asians live in these 10 river basins, but these basins are also economic powerhouses with over 280 large cities and 865GW of power assets.

“The situation is serious; if emissions continue, we could lose up to 80% of HKH glaciers by 2100 … Even 1.5°C is too high for the HKH, we must act to decarbonise fast if we are to preserve our precious glaciers.”

ICIMOD’s Director General Pema Gyamtsho

ICIMOD’s Director General Pema Gyamtsho provided context:

“We saw record-low snowfall in 2023 & 2024 which proved challenging, highlighting regional water security issues. Devastating glacier lake outburst floods caused by accelerated glacier melt have also taken out mountain villages from Everest to Sikkim. The situation is serious; if emissions continue, we could lose up to 80% of HKH glaciers by 2100, but we could face peak water for HKH rivers sooner, by 2050. Even 1.5°C is too high for the HKH, we must act to decarbonise fast if we are to preserve our precious glaciers.”

Ice losses threaten water, food, energy & economic security. The urgency to decarbonise faster to stop the melt, slow down sea level rise and preserve our freshwater ice banks (whether in the Himalayas, Alps or Andes) is clear, yet awareness remains limited due to the hidden nature of these risks as well as the fast-evolving science of ice dynamics.

“The International Year of Glacier Preservation provides an opportunity for Asia to act. We can & must – we can because with over 50% of global greenhouse gas emissions Asia can deliver deep decarbonisation this decade; and we must because Asia is the region most vulnerable to ice losses. We’re still developing, and this puts Asia in a unique position to leapfrog ahead on transition as well as step up adaptation action to match escalating risks” urged Tan.

Echoing this urgency is Professor Shichang Kang, a leading cryosphere expert and the Chair of CNC-IACS, he highlighted that “the time window for protecting glaciers is narrowing. We must work together to cut carbon and reduce emissions. We must act now.”

Professor Shaofeng Jia, from IGSNRR-CAS also said “changes in our cryosphere impact water resources and knowledge of this must be shared across multiple disciplines so that integrated & innovative action can be realised. We must focus on this pressing challenge and secure a sustainable future for generations to come.”

Today, with our planetary ecosystems at risk, we stand at a crossroad. What we do in the next few years on transition & adaptation will decide our futures. The precarious state of our cryosphere brings a torrent of “hidden” risks we must attend to. It’s daunting but we must start somewhere. As Tan summarises, “Tackling complex challenges starts with conversations and we need to start one on ice now – so download the Guide to Stop the Melt and let’s get talking!”

Help us spread the word!
To explore the 13-Factsheet Guide to “Stop the Melt”, start with the Stop the Melt Factsheet – it is linked to the others!

Or access them all here

Adieu! Mountain Ice & Snow Say goodbye to some glaciers now! Some will vanish even at 1.5°C … so farewell, ski resorts! See how less ice & snow can cause seasonal freshwater shortages + impact river flow Don’t forget! Mountain glacier losses also contribute to SLR – see how much is locked-in

Rivers Running Dry Rivers are our lifelines, we should protect them from mountains-to-oceans to ensure they don’t run dry! Snow & ice are key components of river flow; at-a-glance implications for water, food, energy & economic security At-a-glance waternomic stats of Asia’s key river basins: % of national GDP, people & power generation

Further readings

• We never imagined we’d have to urgently deal with fast rising seas – Seas are rising so unimaginably fast that the urge to just give up is strong. CWR’s Tan walks us through 8 things she never imagined & her 3 hopes to slow down fast rising seas
• Too Fast, Too Soon – Vanishing Ice & Rising Seas – With persistent global warming, the ‘Big Melt’ we fear has begun in the polar regions, leading to unprecedented ice loss & devastating sea level rise. Get on top of some ice cold facts with CWR’s Tan & Low
• On Thin Ice: 5 Hot Trends For Rising Seas – From a hotter Arctic, record-breaking ocean warming, to the implications of the collapse of an iceshelf equivalent the size of Florida, CWR’s CT Low walks you through the must-knows of the latest drivers behind sea level rise

More on Latest

• A Conversation with Prof. Shichang, Chair of CNC-IACS – What’s at stake when our glaciers disappear? From water scarcity to floods, Prof. Kang, chairman of CNC-IACS, shares the hidden risks of glacier melt, the urgent need for global climate action & more
• Sea-level rise: a new method to estimate the probability of different outcomes – including a worst case – A new method built on the IPCC 6AR now projects that it’s ‘very likely’ global sea levels will reach 1.9m by 2100 under a high emissions scenario. Authors of the new paper, Grandey & Horton breakdown their findings in The Conversation
• Reflections On Ice – 5 Hopes & Fears – We are not prepared for the ice-cold truths but we need to be & quickly. Get on top of it all with CWR’s Tan & Low who share 5 hopes & fears on everything ice after doing our just released 13 factsheet guide to Stop The Mel