What Happened
- Ladakh recorded its warmest winter in years during 2025-26, with the average temperature in Leh rising to -2.3°C, approximately 2°C above the long-term historical average for the season.
- Snowfall was strikingly uneven: Leh received only 4.2 cm of snowfall — just 27.7% of the seasonal average, a deficit of 72% — while Kargil received 42.2 cm, approximately 248% above its average.
- The reduced snowpack is already affecting spring irrigation for farmers; around 90% of Ladakh's farmers depend entirely on snow and glacial meltwater for their crops, and early snow depletion means acute water shortages at the start of the cropping season.
- Experts warn of increasing pest outbreaks in agricultural zones as warmer winters reduce the natural cold-period check on insect populations.
- Accelerating glacier retreat is being documented across the Ladakh range; smaller glaciers are showing faster mass loss, threatening the medium-to-long-term reliability of meltwater streams that supply villages, agricultural terraces, and hydropower projects.
- Ecologists caution about cascading effects on high-altitude wildlife — including the snow leopard, Himalayan wolf, Kiang (Tibetan wild ass), and the Changpa community's Pashmina goat herds — whose migration timing, breeding, and foraging patterns are tuned to predictable seasonal snowfall.
Static Topic Bridges
The Himalayan Cryosphere — The Third Pole and Asia's Water Tower
The Himalayan-Karakoram-Tibetan Plateau system is known as the "Third Pole" — the largest repository of freshwater ice and snow outside the two polar regions. It feeds 12 of Asia's major river systems, including the Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra, Mekong, Salween, and Amu Darya, sustaining over 1.9 billion people across South and Southeast Asia.
- The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region harbours approximately 54,000 glaciers covering about 60,000 km², forming the cryospheric backbone of South Asian freshwater security.
- Between 1990 and 2020, HKH glaciers lost about 12% of their total area and 9% of estimated ice reserves.
- The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6, 2022) projects that even under the 1.5°C warming scenario, 36% ± 7% of current HKH glacier ice mass will be lost by 2100; under higher emission scenarios, this rises to over 75%.
- Ladakh's glaciers include key systems feeding the Indus River, which supports Pakistan's agriculture and provides water for Ladakh's villages and Kargil district.
- The Karakoram Anomaly: Glaciers in the Karakoram Range have shown anomalous stability or even slight advance due to increased winter precipitation — but this is a regional exception, not the broader trend.
Connection to this news: Ladakh's collapsing snowpack and warming winters are an early, observable expression of the larger cryospheric crisis documented for the Hindu Kush Himalaya, translating abstract IPCC projections into immediate on-the-ground disruption.
Transhumance, Changpa Pastoralism, and Climate Vulnerability
Transhumance refers to the seasonal movement of pastoralists and their livestock between fixed pastures, typically moving from lowland winter pastures to high-altitude summer grazing grounds. In Ladakh, the Changpa community practises a form of transhumance on the Changthang plateau, raising Changthangi goats (Pashmina goats) at altitudes of 4,000–5,000 metres.
- The Changpa's nomadic lifestyle is intimately linked to the predictability of seasonal snowfall: snow determines when pastures become available, dictates water availability at campsites, and regulates the cashmere (Pashmina) fibre quality in goats, which requires extreme cold.
- Warmer winters reduce the quality and quantity of Pashmina fibre, directly reducing the Changpa's income from the high-value Pashmina wool trade.
- The Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary (Ladakh UT) — covering approximately 4,000 km² — protects the Changpa's grazing grounds and harbours the Kiang (Equus kiang), Black-necked Crane, and large colonies of bar-headed geese.
- Climate-induced changes in the snowmelt calendar are forcing premature or delayed movement, disrupting traditional knowledge systems encoded over centuries.
- India's National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) includes the National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) as one of its eight missions; it specifically addresses glacier monitoring and mountain community adaptation.
Connection to this news: The disruption to Ladakh's seasonal rhythm directly threatens the Changpa way of life, demonstrating how climate change interacts with culture, livelihood, and biodiversity conservation in high-altitude ecosystems.
Ice Stupas and Artificial Glaciers — Local Adaptation Innovations
In the absence of early-season meltwater, communities in Ladakh have developed innovative cryospheric engineering. The most notable is the "Ice Stupa" — a cone-shaped artificial glacier developed by engineer Sonam Wangchuk — which stores winter meltwater in the form of a conical ice structure that melts slowly through spring, releasing water precisely when irrigation demand peaks.
- Ice stupas exploit the principle that a conical shape minimises surface area relative to volume, reducing solar radiation exposure and slowing melt rate compared to flat ice sheets.
- The first Ice Stupa (2014-15 pilot, Phyang village) released approximately 1.5 million litres of meltwater for spring irrigation.
- Traditional artificial glaciers (known as "glacier grafting" in Gilgit-Baltistan and northern Ladakh) have been practised for centuries; Ice Stupas are a modern technological adaptation of this tradition.
- The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and NITI Aayog have studied Ice Stupas as a scalable model for climate adaptation in cold-desert regions.
- NMSHE (National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem) under NAPCC funds research on Himalayan glacier monitoring and community-based adaptation.
Connection to this news: As Ladakh's natural snowpack declines, locally developed solutions like Ice Stupas become ever more critical for bridging the seasonal water gap — underscoring the importance of indigenous and technological innovation in climate adaptation policy.
Key Facts & Data
- Leh temperature anomaly, Winter 2025-26: +2°C above long-term average; recorded -2.3°C average.
- Leh snowfall deficit: Only 4.2 cm received — 27.7% of seasonal normal; a 72% deficit.
- Kargil snowfall surplus: 42.2 cm received — approximately 248% of normal.
- ~90% of Ladakh farmers depend entirely on glacial and snowmelt irrigation.
- HKH glaciers: ~54,000 glaciers, ~60,000 km² area; "Third Pole" designation.
- IPCC AR6: Projects 36% ± 7% HKH glacier ice loss even under 1.5°C warming scenario.
- HKH glacier area loss 1990–2020: ~12% area, ~9% ice volume.
- Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary (Ladakh UT): ~4,000 km², protects Kiang and Black-necked Crane.
- Ice Stupa pilot (2014-15): Released ~1.5 million litres of meltwater in first season.
- NAPCC — National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE): One of 8 national missions; focuses on glacier monitoring and mountain community adaptation.