ヒマラヤの降雪量、２３年ぶり低水準 約２０億人に影響と政府間組織が警告

【イスラマバードＡＦＰ＝時事】アフガニスタンからミャンマーにかけて広がるヒンズークシ・ヒマラヤ山脈地域の降雪量が２３年ぶりの低水準を記録し、雪解け水を利用している２０億人近い人々の生活が脅かされる恐れがあるとする報告書が２１日、公表された。（写真は、ネパール・カトマンズ北東約１４０キロに位置するエベレストのベースキャンプ。資料写真）
　同地域は、北極と南極に次ぐ膨大な量の氷雪を蓄え、約２０億人に貴重な淡水を供給している。
　アフガン、バングラデシュ、ブータン、中国、インド、ミャンマー、ネパール、パキスタンの政府間組織「国際総合山岳開発センター（ＩＣＩＭＯＤ）」は報告書で、「ヒンズークシ・ヒマラヤ地域の冬季降雪量が大幅に減少し、雪の持続時間（雪が解けずに地表に残っている時間）は平年より２３．６％短く、過去２３年間で最低となった」と指摘。「この傾向は３年にわたって続いており、２０億人近い人々の水の安全保障が脅かされている」としている。
　さらに、「河川流量が減少する一方、地下水への依存度や干ばつのリスクが高まる」恐れがあると警告。同地域を流れる１２本の主要河川の流域に依存する国々に対し、「水管理の改善や干ばつ対策の強化、早期警報システムの改善、地域協力の強化」を呼び掛けている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/04/22-17:23）

Snowfall in Asia's Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion people dependent on snowmelt for water, scientists warned in a report on Monday.
The Hindu Kush-Himalayan range, which stretches from Afghanistan to Myanmar, holds the largest reserves of ice and snow outside the Arctic and Antarctica and is a vital source of fresh water for about two billion people.
Researchers found a significant decline in seasonal snow across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, with snow persistence (the time snow remains on the ground) 23.6 percent below normal ? the lowest in 23 years, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) said.
This trend, now in its third consecutive year, threatens water security for nearly two billion people, it said in its Snow Update Report.
The study also warned of potential lower river flows, increased groundwater reliance, and heightened drought risk.
Sher Muhammad, the lead author of the ICIMOD report, told AFP that this year the snowfall started late in January and remained low in the winter season on average.
Several countries in the region have already issued drought warnings, with upcoming harvests and access to water at risk for populations already facing longer, hotter, and more frequent heatwaves.
The inter-governmental ICIMOD organisation is made up of member countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.
It urged countries that rely on the 12 major river basins in the region to develop improved water management, stronger drought preparedness, better early warning systems, and greater regional cooperation.
The Mekong and Salween basins -- the two longest rivers in Southeast Asia supplying water to China and Myanmar -- had lost around half of their snow cover, it noted.
Pema Gyamtsho, ICIMOD's director general, called for changes in policy to address the low snow levels in the long term.
Carbon emissions have already locked in an irreversible course of recurrent snow anomalies in the HKH (Hindu Kush-Himalayas), Gyamtsho said.
Asia is the region most affected by climate-related disasters, according to the UN's World Meteorological Organization, which reported last month that five of the past six years have seen the most rapid glacier retreat on record.