Experts warn of erratic monsoon and escalating glacial risks across Hindu Kush Himalaya region
KATHMANDU:- Climate experts have warned that the Hindu Kush Himalaya region faces a highly volatile monsoon season this year, marked by prolonged dry spells interrupted by sudden, extreme rainfall.
Despite an overall forecast projecting below-average seasonal rainfall, scientists from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), caution that El Niño conditions are increasing the risk of localized cloudbursts, catastrophic flash floods, and landslides.
Recent devastating floods in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan and India’s Arunachal Pradesh have already underscored the severity of these erratic weather patterns.
Compounding the threat, above-normal temperatures are accelerating glacial melt across the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra river basins, destabilizing mountain slopes and glacial lakes. Hydrology experts emphasize that these cascading hazards can no longer be managed in isolation.
With weeks of the monsoon season remaining, climate specialists are urging regional governments to shift toward integrated disaster preparedness, increase vigilance in vulnerable riverside and urban settlements, and urgently strengthen cross-border early warning systems to protect high-risk mountain communities.
