Decreasing Snow Cover

Ask any Sherpa and they will tell you that the amount of snow on the mountain slopes has decreased so noticeably that very soon crampons will not even be necessary to climb smaller peaks!! But the loss of snow cover is not just a problem for mountaineers, it is a major problem for the water and energy security of the region. The Himalayas channel the rage of the monsoon by storing up a lot of the precipitation as snow and ice. And it is this storehouse of snow and ice that fuels the streams and rivers of the Himalayas. Retreating glaciers and decreasing snow cover mean that the water discharge of most snow fed rivers is increasing now. But as the storehouse is replenished at the slower rate, there will come a time when the flow will start to decrease. What will then happen to the hydroelectric and irrigation projects downstream?? Or more pertinently what will happen to the millions of people who depend on these water resources??