Glacier and Mountain Water Loss
The frozen reservoirs that supply seasonal water to two billion people are shrinking.
Severity score
56.7
Severe · default weighting
Trajectory
Worsening
What this is
Glaciers in the Himalaya, Andes and Alps are losing mass faster than at any point in the observational record. They act as natural reservoirs releasing meltwater in dry seasons, so their loss produces temporary flooding followed by permanent shortfall for downstream agriculture and hydropower.
Score breakdown
Loss of life
12Direct and attributable mortality, normalised across annual and cumulative tolls.
Lives negatively impacted
80People displaced, injured, food-insecure, exposed or otherwise materially harmed.
Financial cost
60Direct damage, lost output and health-system spend attributable to the event.
Environmental impact
86Emissions, habitat and biodiversity loss, contamination and irreversibility.
Trajectory
82Whether the situation is escalating, and how much worse it is plausibly getting.