Asia’s First Dead Glacier:The Loss of Yala Glacier

Why in News ? In May 2025, the Yala Glacier in Langtang Valley, Nepal, was officially declared “dead” during a poignant ceremony, recognized as Asia’s first glacier funeral. This event underscored the devastating effects of climate change on the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region, a critical area known as the “Third Pole” for its vast ice reserves

Relevance : UPSC Pre & Mains

Prelims: Yala Glacier / Langtang Valley/HKH region

Mains :  GS 3 ( Environment & Ecology)

A Collaborative Mourning:

• The funeral was organized by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), based in Kathmandu, Nepal. The event brought together over 50 participants, including glaciologists, Buddhist monks, and local community members from Nepal, India, China, and Bhutan.
• This diverse group gathered to pay tribute to the vanishing glacier, emphasizing the urgent need for global attention to the cryospheric changes impacting the region’s ecosystems and communities.

Symbolism and Environmental Warning:

• The ceremony served as both a memorial and a call to action, highlighting the broader implications of glacial retreat in the HKH region.
• The Yala Glacier’s rapid decline reflects a regional trend, with the HKH glaciers losing mass at an accelerated pace—65% faster in the 2010s compared to the previous decade.
• This loss threatens water security, food security, and ecosystem stability for up to two billion people dependent on the region’s rivers, such as the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Indus.

ICIMOD’s Role and Regional Impact:

• ICIMOD, an intergovernmental organization established in 1983, has been at the forefront of addressing climate resilience and sustainable development in the HKH region, which spans eight countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan.
• The organization’s efforts focus on mitigating the impacts of climate change, including floods, landslides, and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), which are becoming more frequent due to warming temperatures.
• The Yala Glacier funeral aligns with ICIMOD’s mission to raise awareness and drive regional cooperation to combat the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.

A Message for the Future:

• During the ceremony, a message to the future, penned by author Andri Snaer Magnason, was carved into granite and placed at the base of the Langtang Glacier, near Yala. This message underscored the dire prediction that most of the 54,000 glaciers in the HKH region may vanish by the end of the century if current warming trends continue.