Mitigation Strategies to Combat Climate Change in the Himalayan Mountains

The Himalayan Mountains have warmed significantly in the last century. The rate of warming during winter season is higher than in the monsoon. Consequent depletion of winter snow cover during winter and higher rates of summer melting of glaciers due to rising temperatures are likely to affect hydro-meteorological regimes of many river basins in Himalayas and livelihood of millions of people inhabiting the Indo-Gangetic Plains of Northern India. This paper explores the reasons behind climate change in Himalayas and addresses the issue of mitigation of these impacts by suggesting use of innovative latest state-of-the-art green technologies to tap renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind, hydro-electric and geothermal energy.