International scientists gathered at the University of California San Diego in the US last week concluded that nearly all the 20,000 glaciers in the Himalaya-Hindu Kush mountain ranges are melting. The water from these melts is placing large lakes on the verge of overflowing, with residents in the valleys below at risk of floods. According to the International Commission on Snow and Ice in Kathmandu, Nepal, the Himalayan glaciers are retreating more rapidly than anywhere else in the world, and may be gone by 2035. Higher temperatures, reduced precipitation, black carbon particulates from the burning of fossil fuels and biomass, and fluctuating monsoon season patterns are considered the major contributors to their rapid degradation.

We thank all scientists involved for raising public awareness about the critical state of the legendary Himalayan mountain range. Let us quickly heed these urgent calls and transition to loving Earth-saving lifestyles.

In a November 2008 videoconference with Supreme Master Television staff in California, USA, Supreme Master Ching Hai once again voiced her concern for humanity and the planet’s future as she spoke of the one way to stop the devastating loss of the Himalayan glaciers.