Melting glaciers threaten China and India's hydropower ambitions

As glaciers shrink and monsoon rainfall becomes more unpredictable due to climate change, uncertainty around the viability of hydropower projects in the Hindu Kush Himalayas is increasing. A recent study on the state of a glacier on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau raises questions about the region's long-term water supply and the risk of flooding from more meltwater run-off, with implications for the many dams planned in the Yarlung Tsangpo-Brahmaputra river basin. The Hindu Kush Himalayan region is warming at almost double the global average rate: 0.32 degrees Celsius per decade versus 0.16 degrees Celsius. The study, published in September, found…