"HIMAP is a unique initiative, first of its kind for HKH region on the line of AMAP(Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme). It is a part of the HKH science-policy dialogue to help policymakers from the region." According to him, the report is like a mini-IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report specific to HKH region. "It is a longterm integrated science policy initiative that aims to support policy change and sustainable solutions for problems in the mountains. It will make a difference as it is a landmark report." A comprehensive assessment of the HKH region will assess the current state of knowledge of the HKH region, address critical data gaps and increase the understanding of various drivers of change and their impacts. Based on the assessment, HIMAP will recommend a set of practically-oriented policy recommendations. The assessment process will involve a broad and diverse group of researchers, practitioners and policy makers, and culminate in a major publication with a highlyreputed international publishing house in 2017.

Kulkarni, scientist at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said it was a result of global warming that in most of the HKH region, glaciers were thinning, retreating and losing mass volume. "It is a trend that is projected to continue with possibly large changes in the timing and magnitude of glacier melt runoff." Kulkarni, who is attending the conference as part of a team of scientists behind HIMAP said: "In future, the volume of seasonal snow is going to decrease and the peak of stream discharge will come early and many springs will become dry." Kulkarni told IANS here that if the temperature rose by 4 to 5 degrees Celsius, then 70 per cent of glaciers will be lost by the end of the century. "If glaciers retreat, new lakes will be formed and this has already happened in Sikkim in India. There will be flash floods if they burst. This is the new risk for people living in the HKH region." Another finding of HIMAP is that persistent winter fog would lead to greater air pollution and low visibility throughout the HKH region and the Indo-Gangetic plains. Air pollution has already increased and air quality worsened. The HKH sources 10 major river systems in Asia that provide water, ecosystem services and livelihoods to more than 210 million people. The region holds and distributes water for more than 1.3 billion people living in the downstream river basins. Climate change and other drivers of change in the HKH have already begun to impact ecosystems and communities, increasing vulnerability and exposure to natural disasters such as floods, droughts and landslides. The region is also home to some of the most diverse cultures, languages, religions, and traditional knowledge systems in the world. For these reasons, the HKH region is clearly a major global asset, critical to the planet as a whole.