Kashmir's rivers and streams have decreased by two-thirds, and many glaciers have completely disappeared over the last four decades. Average temperatures have risen between 2.6 and 4.2 degrees Fahrenheit in the last two decades, depending on where you are - putting the state's water supply, and people, in extreme danger of extinction.

I don't think that's an exaggeration either. Depending on who you ask, Kashmir has lost anywhere between 42,000 and 60,000 people during these last 18 years of violent unrest. Now add on the water problem, and you have a recipe for total disaster.

"The rapid melting of Himalayan glaciers will first increase the volume of water in rivers causing widespread flooding," said Jennifer Morgan, head of WWF's global climate change program. "But in a few decades this situation will change and the water level in rivers will decline, meaning massive economic and environmental problems for people in Western China, Nepal and Northern India." - Source: ENN article

...and water levels are already starting to decrease. Nepal, China, India - they are all seeing huge decreases in water levels. Experts say a quarter of the world's glaciers could be gone by 2050, half by 2100. I think it might be sooner - the experts have been surprised by how fast the glaciers melt before. Either way, Asia is in big trouble. Most of their water is purely from glacier fed streams.

About 67 percent of the nearly 12,124 square miles of Himalayan glaciers are receding and in the long run as the ice diminishes, glacial runoffs in summer and river flows will also go down, leading to severe water shortages in the region. - Source: ENN article

It's almost sickening to think, but I feel like I'm in a science fiction novel.