Meltdown will trigger Himalayan crisis

Meltdown will trigger Himalayan crisis 

Glacial Thaw Will Lead To Massive Migration In India: Report

London: The melting of Himalayan glaciers due to global warming will lead to massive human migration in India which is dependent on river systems generated by these glaciers, said a report released on Wednesday. 
The report claims the melting of the glaciers, also known as Water Towers of Asia will bring perils to poor section of the populations dependent on the river systems in India, China, Pakistan and other Asian countries by the year 2050. To Hindus the Ganges is sacred and is personified in Mother Ganga, representative of life giving maternal waters . Changes in the rivers and livelihoods dependent on them could bring profound economic, cultural and demographic impacts , the report warns. 
Titled In Search of Shelter: Mapping the Effects of Climate Change on Human Migration and Displacement , the report announced in Bonn, Germany, says ongoing melting of the glaciers will devastate heavily irrigated farmlands of Asia by increasing floods and decreasing long-term water supplies. 
The glacier-fed basins of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irawaddy , Salween, Mekong, Yangtze and Yellow rivers now support over 1.4 billion people in India, Pakistan, China, Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries . The report is based on a first global survey of environmental change and migration 
The report is the collaborative effort of Columbia Universitys Center for International Earth Science Information Network , the United Nations University and CARE International. It says breakdown of ecosystembased economies subsistence herding, farming and fishing, like in India will be the dominant driver of forced migration.