Melting Himalayan Glaciers Pose Security Risk – UNEP

Global warming will cause the Himalayan glaciers to melt, leading to mass migration and possibly conflicts over valuable resources such as agricultural land and fresh water, the UN Environment Programme chief said.

Achim Steiner, speaking ahead of the UN Security Council’s first-ever debate on climate change, said that global warming should be considered a security issue as shortages of water and fertile land in the next 10 to 20 years may lead to conflicts.
The melting of the Himalayan glaciers is expected to displace millions of people from low-lying land as sea levels rise, and will disrupt river flows and irrigation of agricultural land.

“When people start moving, it puts people into competition with one another,” Steiner told Reuters in a phone interview from Nairobi. “Where will these people go? Where will they run to where other communities want them?”

The Himalayan glaciers, which feed rivers in India and China, are among the fastest-melting in the world.

Scientists have said the Himalayan glaciers could shrink to 100,000 square km (38,610 square miles) by the 2030s, from 500,000 square km (193,100 square miles) now, if the current pace of global warming continues.

Former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern warned last year that the melting of Himalayan glaciers could cause serious flooding in Bangladesh, sparking a mass migration into India.

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