ICIMOD Presents An Alarming Picture of Depleting Snow Persistence in HKH

A record low snow persistence

Amid deepening worries over receding snow levels high in the Himalayas,  the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has launched an alarming report.  
 

According to the 2025 Snow Update report, the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region—an 800-kilometer-long mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas—suffered its third consecutive below-normal snow year in 2025, with snow persistence, which is the fraction of time snow is on the ground after snowfall, hitting a record low of - 23.6 per cent in 20 years.

Launching the report, Pema Gyamtsho, ICIMOD’s director-general, said: Carbon emissions have already locked in an irreversible course of recurrent snow anomalies in the HKH.

Paradigm shift necessary
He stressed the need to embrace a paradigm shift toward science-based, forward-looking policies and foster renewed regional cooperation for transboundary water management and emissions mitigation to tackle this snow crisis and the challenges it creates for long-term food, water and energy resilience.  
On an average, seasonal snowmelt accounts for about a fourth of the total annual runoff of these rivers, with the share gradually rising from the rivers in the east to those in the west of the region. Basin-wise differences in the dependence on seasonal snowmelt notwithstanding, continued deficit of seasonal meltwater means lesser river runoffs and early-summer water stress, especially for downstream communities, already reeling under premature and intensifying heat spells across the region, the ICIMOD stated. 

An alarming trend
Sher Muhammad, a remote sensing specialist at ICIMOD and the lead expert for Snow report 2025, noted that the region was observing such deficit situations occurring in continuous succession, describing it as an “alarming trend”.

While our findings give broad pictures across the region, each must act on the basis of specific conditions of their river basins, particularly where seasonal snow melt is the major water source.”

While the level of deficit in snow persistence in the western river basins has been less this year compared to the last year, it provides no respite from the existing water stress in these areas. Seasonal snowmelt is critical for water supply in these basins. So, persisting below-normal snowfall and reduced melt rate will only deepen water crises.

Whereas the eastern river basins, which experienced near-normal snow persistence last year, face deficits of up to 50 per cent below normal. Although seasonal snow contributes less to total meltwater in the region, around 15 per cent drop in the persistence of seasonal snow could still impact downstream communities, especially in the mountains and Tibetan Plateau, where annual snow conditions are generally erratic, ICIMOD said in a press statement on Friday. 

Two billion people to bear the brunt
The report reveals the most alarming declines in snow persistence in the Mekong (-51.9 %) and Salween (-48.3%) basins, followed by the Tibetan Plateau (-29.1%), the Brahmaputra (-27.9%), Yangtze (-26.3%) and the Ganges (-24.1%) basins. This is worrying news for the water security of nearly two billion people across 12 major river basins that originate high in the HKH, the report said.

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