Himalayan Snow Lines on the Rise

Winters are bitterly cold at “the roof of the world,” the high-altitude region of Asia that includes the Himalaya mountains. And yet, on the glaciated landscape around Mount Everest, snow cover in recent winters has been limited to the mountains’ higher elevations. According to scientists tracking the region’s snow and ice, a combination of warmer and drier conditions has contributed to this upward creep of the winter snow line—the elevation at and above which seasonal snow persists on glacial ice. The shift has implications for regional water security and fire activity.