Judith Shapiro, Bryan Tilt, Brian Eyler, Selina Ho, Charles Siebert, Alex Davis, Ruth Gamble, Dan Lewis, Dipak Gyawali

In the summer of 2020, while stories of COVID dominated the world’s attention, the Himalayan region flared up. Clashes between India and China and a spat between India and Nepal were more than just disputes over territory. They reflected growing anxiety over water. Glaciers have been melting at record speed, new lakes in danger of bursting have been forming rapidly, and monsoon patterns continue to change and unsettle farmers dependent on their predictability. Groundwater has been quickly depleting and aquifers are drying up. The food supply for billions of people is thus threatened. Record floods followed by prolonged droughts are causing millions to be displaced and contribute to accelerating migration flows.