UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that major Himalayan rivers, including the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Indus could see reduced flows due to global warming.
"As glaciers and ice sheets continue to recede over the coming decades, major Himalayan rivers will feel the impact — seeing their flows reduced," Guterres said at the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation on Thursday.
He also said that the melting of the Himalayas' glaciers worsened the flood in Pakistan last year.
"Human activity is driving our planet's temperature to dangerous new heights," Guterres noted, adding that global warming is turning glaciers into the "canary in the coal mine."
About 70 percent of the Ganges river (the most important river in north India) comes from meltwater from the Himalayan glaciers.
Experts and activists have often warned about the impact of global warming on the Himalayan glaciers and rivers.
Last year, at the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-27), a similar report was released which stated that the melting of the Himalayan glaciers would make life more difficult for India and other nations in the coming days.