Joy Harjo: Bless This Land

Loowit, the Indigenous name for Mount St. Helens. Photo by Molly

 Bless This Land

 Bless this land from the top of its head to the bottom of its feet

       From the arctic old white head to the brown feet of tropical rain

Bless the eyes of this land, for they witness cruelty and kindness in

this land

       From sunrise light upright to falling down on your knees night

Bless the ears of this land, for they hear cries of heartbreak

and shouts of celebration in this land

       Once we heard no gunshot on these lands; the trees and stones can be heard singing

Bless the mouth, lips and speech of this land, for the land is a

speaker, a singer, a keeper of all that happens here, on this land

       Luminous forests, oceans, and rock cliff sold for the trash glut

       of gold, uranium, or oil bust rush yet there are new stories to be

       made, little ones coming up over the horizon

Bless the arms and hands of this land, for they remake and restore

beauty in this land

       We were held in the circle around these lands by song, and

       reminded by the knowers that not one is over the other, no

       human above the bird, no bird above the insect, no wind above the grass

Bless the heart of this land on its knees planting food beneath the

eternal circle of breathing, swimming and walking this land

       The heart is a poetry maker. There is one heart, said the poetry

       maker, one body and all poems make one poem and we do not

       use words to make war on this land

              Bless the gut labyrinth of this land, for it is

                    the center of unknowing in this land

Bless the femaleness and maleness of this land, for each holds the

fluent power of becoming in this land

        When it was decided to be in this manner here in this place, this

        land, all the birds made a birdly racket from indigo sky holds

Bless the two legs and two feet of this land, for the sacred always

walks beside the profane in this land

       These words walk the backbone of this land, massaging the tissue

       around the cord of life, which is the tree of life, upon which this

       land stands

Bless the destruction of this land, for new shoots will rise up from

fire, floods, earthquakes and fierce winds to make new this land

       We are land on turtle’s back—when the weight of greed overturns

       us, who will recall the upright song of this land

Bless the creation of new land, for out of chaos we will be

compelled to remember to bless this land

       The smallest one remembered, the most humble one, the one

       whose voice you’d have to lean in a thousand years to hear—we

       will begin there

Bless us, these lands, said the rememberer. These lands aren’t our

lands. These lands aren’t your lands. We are this land.

       And the blessing began a graceful moving through the grasses

       of time, from the beginning, to the circling around place of time,

       always moving, always

 ― Joy Harjo

From An American Sunrise 

https://www.joyharjo.com/

The Cardinal Sin of the US, White Patriarchal Racism, Provides Fertile Soil For Cruelty

This is yet another excellent, 100% spot on, and incredibly well articulated pieces by one of my courageous immigrant friends. Deepest gratitude, respect, and appreciation for his undying activism, integrity and courage, truth-telling and wisdom, deep caring and fierce love. May we all be informed and inspired by strong voices of truth such as that which is held and illuminated with such clarity in this article. — Molly  

One of the things that makes all this xenophobic hatred so painful is that it is so predictable to anyone who has read a lick of history.

Human beings seem to have to repeat the same mistakes one generation after another. These hunts for migrants always happen when a country or empire is crumbling. They happen when the political infrastructure has abandoned enough people that they can be easily convinced of the inherent absurdity that people’s humanity should be revoked if they were born on the wrong side of an artificially constructed border (a border created by violence in the first place).

While some may be surprised to see this happen in the land of the Statue of Liberty and in a country filled with people with an immigrant heritage, the cardinal sin of the US, white patriarchal racism, provides fertile soil for this cruel stupidity.

And make no mistake about it: it IS dumb. MAGA is a Know-Nothing movement that is not interested in actual arguments about legality. This is an emotional movement that reminds me of the fictional world of The Purge. It is a mass release of hate and aggression, a taking on of cruelty as a kind of salvific fire meant to cleanse imagined impurities.

Materially, not only does it have no beneficial effect on the country: it hastens every crisis. The labor crisis is made worse, the economy tanks, the health care crisis deepens, our schools and universities worsen, all so one can “feel” superior to migrants while the wealthy elite rob whatever is remaining from the public coffers from the middle, working and poor classes.

All of this benefits the powerful and the adherents of this movement are too hypnotized by the circus of cruelty to realize that their own welfare is tied to the welfare of the very immigrants whose terrorizing they are supporting.

It always happens the same way. This is nothing new. It would be boring if it weren’t so mind-numbingly evil.

I would love to believe that we may have Nuremberg trials about this eventually, in many years, when the fever breaks. But I don’t know what will be left of the nation in a few years.

We have to keep organizing and pushing back on principle. I know I will continue.

But I worry that too many US citizens think this is just a phase and fail to see the deep danger this poses for everyone, even as ICE grows in power as a paramilitary force whose gun(s) can be trained on anyone.

On anyone.

At one of countless protests with my husband, this one in Vancouver, WA

A friend compiled these photos I'd taken at a protest and created this collage for me.

Reflections On the "Extreme Left" and Transforming Harmful Narratives Into Ones That Heal, Connect, Empower, and Awaken

"We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words."

— Ursula K. Le Guin

 

Can you imagine our nation no longer under the ideology and influences, practices  and policies, propaganda and politics of neoliberal capitalism? For those who listen, try taking NPR for instance. Imagine if "Planet Money" were instead named "Planet Earth", if "How I Built This" was called "How We Built This", if "Market Place" was reframed as "Community Place." Just imagine the impact of this transformation in how we think, perceive, and care.

The author, poet, and activist bell hooks spoke of the pervasive influence of "imperialist white-supremacist capitalist patriarchy," something which I believe, on a continuum, has impacted us all. This includes our vulnerability to being misled, propagandized, polarized, disinformed, and disempowered. It is a toxic status quo that we have been indoctrinated to believe in and hold as sacred truth. 

Millions of us cling to the belief that there is nothing better, no alternative to capitalism that would better serve ourselves, our nation, and the world. And those who question, challenge, and envision another way are often silenced, dehumanized, demonized, and called "communist." Just look at the new Red Scare underway mirroring the McCarthy era of the 1950s. 

* * * * *

"War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength."

— George Orwell, 1984

I am inspired today to once again shine light on the subtle and blatant narratives which cut us off from our larger wisdom and capacity to recognize and embody love, truth, care, compassion, and connection with ourselves and all of life on Earth. Over the many years that I have been following both corporate funded media and independent media, I have increasingly been empowered to discern what is being left out or distorted in the narratives that we are exposed to — and when we are being empowered to connect the dots of larger pictures and deeper truths that are essential for us to be aware of, absorb, and act upon.

The lack of pushback that I continuously witness in resources such as NPR, in all honestly, just infuriates me. There is no discussion related to fascism when talking about the "right." Where Amy Goodman and those she interviews have been shining bright light on the connections between burning fossil fuels and the horrifying climate catastrophes — how Amy refers to them — that we are witnessing and experiencing across our country and world, NPR and other mainstream media most often frame them as "natural disasters" and leave it at that. 

It is also true that corporate funded media completely fails to expose the genocide in Gaza and the Republicans and Democrats in the pockets of AIPAC. And when discussing the "left", again and again I hear the words "extreme left" and how "middle America" is in support of "moderate centrist" democrats. Really?? In these narratives that perpetuate left vs right, the truth gets buried in the polarizing propaganda. We don't hear in-depth discussion of facts and policies. And what is left out is profoundly dangerous, disturbing, distracting, and disempowering.

What I imagine sweeping across our country and beyond is something that is vastly different and inherently grounded in integrity, courage, commitment to truth, and free from the influences of the toxic greed that is embedded in wealthy individual and corporate interests. What I am referring to here are independent resources of information such as Amy Goodman and Democracy Now!, Chris Hedges, Henry Giroux, Rebecca Solnit, and a whole host of other independent sources of integrity and truth such as those I have listed on the sidebar of my blog. As Amy Goodman has said — the commitment is to holding the powerful accountable rather than being their voice pieces.

* * * * *

"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders…and millions have been killed because of this obedience…Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves… and the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem."

— Howard Zinn

Just imagine if the policies and goals of democratic socialists and other progressives were presented to us in detail. Just imagine if we were actually informed! 

Would we Americans then see it as "extreme" to want an end to endless wars and trillions of dollars poured into the imperialist wars of our government? Would we want to dismiss the wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr. when he said, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”

Would we Americans object to removing the takeover of our politicians and political system by the most wealthy 1% among us? Would we reject taking action to remove Dark Money out of our politics?

Would it be "extreme" to implement Medicare For All, to recognize healthcare as a right rather than a privilege, and to ensure that millions of human beings stop dying or being driven into bankruptcy because of a healthcare system built on profit and greed? 

Would most Americans see it as too "extreme" to seek economic justice and completely overhaul our tax system, end the obscene redistribution of wealth upwards, ensure that a social safety net is in place to ensure that no one need live in abject poverty, and guarantee that food, housing, childcare, education, and our basic needs are met? Would that be too extreme for a nation that is considered to be the wealthiest on Earth?

And what about the climate crisis that is now impacting everyone across our nation and the world? Just look at Tibet. Tears... The reality is that all around us are catastrophic wildfires, floods and droughts, tornadoes and hurricanes and tropical storms, frigid winter storms and summer heat domes, melting glaciers and rising seas, critical water shortages and drying lake beds, dying coral reefs and mass extinctions, shrinking habitable places to live and climate migrations, resource wars and unimaginable desperation and destruction and death. "Unprecedented" is now the new normal. 

And yet, here in the United States there is still a debate about whether or not there even exists a human caused climate crisis. No administration has declared a climate emergency and acted to implement the radical changes vital to saving ourselves and giving us any chance of preserving a habitable planet. This is madness. And this puts my children and grandchildren and all of the children of all of the species everywhere at risk. Infuriating, heartbreaking, horrifying!

And for so many years now I have been noticing the damning and glaring differences between a mainstream for-profit media and independent media. Rather than calling them "natural disasters," resources such as Amy Goodman — and the experts she consistently interviews on Democracy Now! — illuminate that what we're witnessing and experiencing everyday are not natural, but are "climate disasters." And again and again the links are made connecting these human caused climate catastrophes and the criminal greed and delusion embedded in the failure to transition off of fossil fuels and onto renewables. Imagine if we had long been told the truth!

 

And then there is the genocide. Instead of giving power and credence to the voices of those such as the psychopath Netanyahu, independent journalism gives us the horrifying truth about the genocide in Gaza and its ongoing support by our government under both Democratic and Republican administrations. This empowers us to stop our collusion with atrocities, war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. 

Once we recognize that Palestinians are experiencing what the Indigenous Peoples here in America did when they were annihilated in that genocide, we humans can then understand why standing up to and exposing rather than supporting AIPAC funded politicians in our country becomes a priority. Truly, what we would have done during the genocide perpetrated by Hitler is what we are doing now. And as Omar El Akkad has said, we all need to fight against the theft of our souls. (https://mollystrongheart.blogspot.com/2026/06/omar-el-akkad-at-least-fight-against.html)

And this leads me into ICE... More tears of grief and outrage. I have to stop and breathe... The utter cruelty, the intentional brutality, the racism and scapegoating and horrifying terrorism perpetrated on our immigrant sisters and brothers simply shatters my heart into pieces. Like the genocide does. 

Because of the independent voices of truth, courage, and integrity that I have long sought out, today I am acutely aware of so much that is happening in our nation and worldwide. I see the utterly heartless, sociopathic, criminal acts of profound dehumanization and violence perpetrated by our government on the peoples of our country and other nations and on all of life on Earth. The trauma impacting billions of beings is so hard to look at, to hold in conscious awareness, and to act upon individually and collectively in everyway that we possibly can. That said, this is the imperative our of times.

* * * * *

“You don’t need to do everything. Do what calls your heart; effective action comes from love. It is unstoppable, and it is enough.” — Joanna Macy

What comes to me in this moment is a vision of courage, individual and collective courage that is contagious and expanding its reach ever more deeply into our own hearts and the hearts and minds of our planetary sisters and brothers everywhere. Because it takes courage to truly and deeply look and recognize how we've been hoodwinked and that it isn't just those nasty ________ (fill in the blank with republicans, democrats, immigrants,  socialists, communists, etc.) who are destroying our lives and causing us to suffer. 

It takes courage to seek to truly know and understand a larger picture. It takes courage  and commitment to explore and question what we've been propagandized to believe and to cultivate a profound commitment to truth. And it takes love to increasingly embody a commitment to doing whatever our part is in alleviating the suffering within ourselves and our shared beautiful hurting world.

I imagine that more and more of us are awakening to the realization that what is often framed by those in power — including those aligned with both neoliberal democrats and fascist republicans — as "extreme" are in reality communicating what they do not support. As we look deeply into the specifics of what is being said in mainstream media and by most, but not all, politicians to be "extreme", it becomes clear what they are standing in opposition to. 

On that list of fierce opposition — by both corporate funded republicans and democrats — is getting Dark Money out of our political system. There is opposition to anything that threatens the status quo. And this absolutely includes empowering those we elect to actually represent We The People and the planet — rather than their wealthy donors — and to act of the consciousness of the highest good for us all. There is a very tight clinging to and justification for power, control, and greed. Full stop.

Time and time again, wealthy individual and corporate interests have in reality stood against any depth of true democracy, justice, peace, equality, a nation that cares for all, and respect for the basic needs of humans and nonhumans across America and beyond. And those who have repeatedly worked for justice, worked to end the vast immoral and criminal redistribution of wealth upwards, worked to address and meet our authentic needs and ensure our basic rights, and worked to heal and transform our nation have been sabotaged and shut out of positions of power. And any time that we hear the words  "extreme left" we can be assured that that is what is happening.

This truth-seeking has been a long, humbling, disillusioning, painful, empowering, and amazing journey for me, one for which I am eternally grateful. As my heart has been broken open again and again, my capacity to act out of fierce love has grown, evolved, deepened. And, ultimately, today my heart holds with care all of life everywhere. 

May we humans awaken our vast capacity to act

out of wisdom, generosity, and love...

🙏💜🙏

Molly

Photo by Molly

CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW!

"Climate change is the single biggest thing that 

humans have ever done on this planet. 

The one thing that needs to be bigger 

is our movement to stop it."

— Bill McKibben

As I grieve the horrifying catastrophe in Tibet, I am moved to write through my tears of anguish, anger, pain and trauma, and fierce caring and love.

What I witness here today, and again and again over time, are the ongoing devastating impacts of the greed, ignorance, and delusions of those in positions of power who have long been reacting to the human caused climate crisis by spreading denial, doubt, distraction, and deadly disinformation.

We also cannot blame a lack of action related to the climate crisis on any one political party. Republicans and Democrats alike have long been denying that there is a crisis and failing to act. No administration has officially stepped up to declare a climate emergency and enact the radical policy changes long urgently need to transition off of fossil fuels and onto renewables. 

Consequently, we did not arrive overnight to this reality of the climate disasters that are unfolding daily across our nation and world. And it infuriates me that they are referred to as "natural disasters" or "Mother Nature" rather than climate disasters! This criminal misinformation, inaction, and deafening silence and denial has been occurring over decades. And these voices of politicians and "experts" in the mainstream media have been sustaining their deadly lies even though what is at stake is a habitable planet. 

Which makes them the greatest criminals of our time and all times. There is no injustice, no evil more immense than putting at risk all of life on Earth. And now the evidence is overwhelming that we are on a suicidal trajectory which imperials humans and all of our planetary sisters and brother across the planet.

***

There are also tragically many Americans who dismiss the burning of fossil fuels as the greatest cause of the climate changes we see. They believe that there have always been these cycles of devastation on Earth, spreading the belief that humans are not the root cause of the emergency we face today. Or some will say that it is all God's will. Or the disasters are happening because the Earth is angry. Of course, all that those perspectives do is let us off the hook of needing to act to save ourselves because of the belief that (1) global warming is a hoax, (2) God is in control, not man, or (3) it's too late and there's nothing we can do.

A friend accurately responded to one comment by someone justifying inaction or any need for accountability and radical changes — because of their belief that Earth's "natural cycles" that have always happened and are not manmade ones — this way: "Current glacier thinning is unprecedented in human history and heavily driven by human activity. While Earth has experienced natural heating and cooling cycles over millions of years (primarily due to slow shifts in its orbit known as Milankovitch cycles), the modern trajectory departs from these cycles entirely. Scientists prove human culpability by identifying specific chemical "fingerprints," and distinct geological anomalies in the atmosphere, oceans, and ice that natural forces simply cannot replicate... Furthermore, communities absolutely can and do what they can to prepare for the damage caused by thinning glaciers. Engineering and disaster management teams worldwide actively mitigate the risks of thinning glaciers. But there is no preparing or future-proofing for catastrophes like this without also doing all we can to mitigate human-caused CO2 levels rising and contributing to climate change."

***

There is so much that is connected with and fueling the climate crisis. Today we are witnessing endless resource wars and deadly greed, the unstoppable winds and wildfires, droughts and floods, tornadoes and tropical storms and hurricanes, bitter cold and the heat domes, starvation and desperation of millions, melting glaciers and rising seas and dying coral reefs, the sixth major extinction and the loss of so many planetary beings who will never be seen again, excruciating poverty and millions of climate refugees, and all of the many faces of suffering and devastation and death related to the human caused and ever accelerating climate catastrophe. And now the apocalyptic horror in Tibet.

Life on Earth is all connected and no one is left untouched by this emergency that we collectively face. It is absolutely essential that everyone who is able — who aren't struggling to simply stay alive and survive — take responsibility for informing ourselves about the climate crisis. There is an urgent need for more and more voices of truth illuminating where we are at and the urgent need for radical changes. We must transition off of fossil fuels and onto renewable resources! Our children and grandchildren and all of the children of all of the species are depending on us to do the right thing. The eyes of the children are watching.

BLESS ALL BEINGS ON EARTH

CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW!

(This is my latest bumper sticker.)

— Molly

For anyone wondering how there came to be

so much doubt about our warming planet, 

please watch this excellent documentary:

Nepal Floods Demonstrate Threat of Climate-Driven Glacier Collapse

I've been joining with countless human beings worldwide in experiencing such an incredible depth of grief. It had already been too much — the resource wars and deadly greed, the unstoppable winds and wildfires, the droughts and floods, the tornadoes and tropical storms and hurricanes, the bitter cold and the heat domes, the starvation and desperation of millions, the melting glaciers and rising seas and dying coral reefs, the sixth major extinction and the loss of so many planetary beings who will never be seen again, the excruciating poverty and the millions of climate refugees, and all of the many faces of suffering and devastation and death related to the human caused and ever accelerating climate catastrophe. And now the apocalyptic horror in Tibet.

Those most responsible for the climate crisis must be held accountable!

And, yes, we must also seek and speak the truth ourselves, courageously bear witness to these horrors, and expose those who for decades have been the sources of greed-soaked inaction and the poisonous propaganda of denial, doubt, and devasting disinformation. We must.

May the trauma of this horror and heartbreak inspire us — all of us who aren't overwhelmed with daily simply trying to survive — to take action and to doing our part, no matter how large of small, in the great work of standing in protection of life on Earth. May we join in solidarity with all who are dedicated to alleviating the suffering in our world and to being forces of truth, compassionate action, and fierce love in the face of the climate emergency that is leaving no life untouched. Bless us all! 🙏🙏Molly

A resident walks along a street covered in mud following flash floods and a landslide disaster in Devighat, in Nepal's Nuwakot district on August 26, 2026. Prakash Mathema / AFP via Getty Images

“What happened yesterday is unfortunately the new normal,” one geoscientist said of the devastating floods.

By 

Chris Walker ,

Truthout
August 27, 2026

Preliminary investigations into the massive floods in Nepal earlier this week indicate that the cause of the disaster was likely glacial collapse, a phenomenon wherein a glacier or part of one disintegrates, resulting in a rush of water being released.

The impact of the collapsing glacier was so monumental that it was initially but incorrectly identified as an earthquake, registering a 5.2 rating on the Richter scale.

So far, at least 389 deaths have been counted from the devastating flooding that took place on Wednesday near the Lhende Khola and Bhote Koshi River in the Rasuwa district of Nepal. More than 1,300 individuals remain missing, among them at least 700 tourists (including around 90 Americans) who were visiting the region.

While the exact cause of the flooding can’t technically be attributed quite yet, a rapid analysis of the area by a team of geoscientists from satellite monitoring company Planet Labs suggests glacial collapse was to blame. According to before and after images, a glacier that was near the region was reduced by around 2 million square feet after the event occurred.

Witness accounts of the devastation offer a horrifying glimpse into what happened.

“Nepal authorities are telling us entire villages are wiped out with waves of 8-10 meters. It’s shocking,” said Tommaso Della Longa, a spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Geneva. “The scale of devastation is immense. There are areas that simply don’t exist anymore.”

Collapsing glaciers are sometimes a natural phenomenon, but as the planet continues to warm due to the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis, their rapid retreat and collapse have increasingly become a major threat to communities around the world.

“What happened yesterday is unfortunately the new normal. It’s going to get worse from here onwards,” said Jakob Steiner, a geoscientist at the University of Graz in Austria, speaking to The Associated Press about the situation.

Simon Cook, a glacier expert with the University of Dundee in Scotland who also works with Planet Labs, agreed that the climate crisis was largely to blame for the disaster and possibly other future flooding events, telling the BBC that:

The logic is that with a warming planet, you will see shrinking glaciers, lots of snow melt. The permafrost that is partially holding some mountainsides together is warming and thawing and degrading. So you are going to get more landslides, debris flows, glacial meltwater, lake outbursts, glacier collapses, because climate warming ultimately destabilizes these high mountain environments.

Aakriti Dotel, National Network Coordinator for Nepalese Youth for Climate Action, described the floods as “another painful reminder of the growing climate crisis facing Nepal and the Himalayas.”

“As our glaciers melt and extreme weather events become increasingly unpredictable, communities living downstream are bearing the devastating consequences,” Dotel explained in a 350.org press release.

“We mourn the lives lost and the livelihoods affected and call for urgent global climate action. There must be stronger support for vulnerable mountain communities, and accountability from those most responsible for the climate crisis,” Dotel added.

Please go here for the original article: https://truthout.org/articles/nepal-floods-demonstrate-threat-of-climate-driven-glacier-collapse/

Scientists Warn Accelerated Himalayan Glacier Melt Threatens Lives of Billions

There have been clear warnings exposing the climate emergency for years and years. Tragically for humans and nonhumans and all of our descendants, too many have been digesting the poisonous greed-soaked propaganda of doubt, denial, and disinformation for decades related to the human causes of the climate crisis. And now here we are in the midst of the worse case scenarios unfolding day by day by day here in the United States and worldwide. Because of my passionate love and caring for my children and grandchildren and all life on Earth, I am inspired to continuously be a strong voice of truth again and again and again. May truth, courage, and love increasingly inspire us all to act in every way that we possibly can NOW. 🙏🙏 Molly

This picture taken on October 19, 2022, shows a trekker observing the Gangotri Glacier, which is one source of the Ganges River, at Gangotri National Park. Xavier Galiana / AFP via Getty Images

Absent urgent climate action, glaciers in the Hindu Kush range could lose up to 80 percent of their volume by 2100.

By

Jake Johnson ,

CommonDreams
June 20, 2023

A team of international scientists based in Nepal warned Tuesday that glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya are melting at an accelerated rate and could lose up to 80% of their volume by century’s end if ambitious action isn’t taken to slash planet-warming emissions.

The latest research from the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) shows that Himalaya glaciers disappeared 65% faster in the decade between 2010 and 2020 than in the previous 10 years as a result of global temperature increases.

By 2100, if current emissions trajectories hold, the critical glaciers that provide fresh water for 2 billion people in Asia could irreversibly lose 80% of their ice, according to the new report, which was published amid a punishing heatwave in the region.

“Snow cover is projected to fall by up to a quarter under high emissions scenarios—drastically reducing freshwater for major rivers such as the Amu Darya, where it contributes up to 74% of river flow; the Indus (40%); and Helmand (77%),” the researchers found. “The extent of frozen ground (permafrost) is decreasing, which will lead to more landslides and problems for infrastructure at high elevation.”

Izabella Koziell, ICIMOD’s deputy director-general, said Tuesday that “with two billion people in Asia reliant on the water that glaciers and snow here hold, the consequences of losing this cryosphere are too vast to contemplate.”

“The glaciers of the Hindu Kush Himalaya are a major component of the Earth system,” said Koziell. “We need leaders to act now to prevent catastrophe. There is still time to save this critical region, but only if fast and deep emissions cuts start now. Every increment of a degree of warming matters to glaciers here and to the hundreds of millions of people that depend on them.”

The new report stresses that the glaciers and snow-covered mountains of the Hindu Kush Himalaya are a crucial water source for 12 river basins that run through 16 countries, meaning increasingly rapid melting poses a dire threat to people and wildlife in the region.

“Mountain communities are already living with the impacts of the accelerated melting of glaciers, changing snowfall patterns, growing variability in water availability, and increasing incidences of cryosphere-related hazards,” the report notes. “These changes have a direct impact on their lives and livelihoods.”

Philippus Wester, a lead author of the new report, told AFP that the speed with which the Himalayan glaciers are warming is “very worrying.”

“This is going much faster than we thought,” said Wester. “It underscores the need for urgent climate action. Every small increment will have huge impacts and we really, really need to work on climate mitigation… that is our plea.”

The study was released hours after more than 140 economists and policy experts implored rich countries on Monday to end fossil fuel subsidies and tax the very wealthy to fund the kinds of sweeping climate measures needed to prevent devastating glacial melting and other consequences of runaway warming.

Also on Monday, the World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service published research showing that the combination of below-average precipitation and scorching summer temperatures across Europe “contributed to the largest loss of glacial ice recorded in the European Alps” last year.

“The Greenland ice sheet continued to lose mass during 2022,” the organizations found, “and in September periods of exceptional warmth led to widespread surface melt.”

The ICIMOD study warns that even if global warming is kept between the Paris accord targets of 1.5°C and 2°C above preindustrial levels, the Himalayan glaciers “are expected to lose 30%-50 % of their volume by 2100 relative to 2015.”

Saleemul Huq, director of the Bangladesh-based International Center for Climate Change and Development, said Tuesday that the study lays bare “the devastating implications this will have on two billion people and the nature that rely on the water and ecosystems of the Hindu Kush Himalaya.”

“It is beyond time that governments, donors, and agencies step up: to exit fossil fuels and honor their commitments to limit warming, to help communities adapt to those temperature rises already locked in, and to compensate them for property and ways of life that have already been lost,” said Huq.

Please go here for the original article: https://truthout.org/articles/scientists-warn-accelerated-himalayan-glacier-melt-threatens-lives-of-billions/