South Asia

Abstract

The author begins at the source of the Ganges, or Ganga (the terms are interchangeable), and traces the course of the river down from its beginnings in the Himalayas, past Varanasi and Kolkata to the open sea. He points out that the glaciers which feed the river have already receded and are predicted to retreat still further as the effects of climate change intensify. The effect of global warming on India could be devastating; there are some calculations that average temperature rises of between three and five degrees could occur in North India by 2080. He also notes that many attribute to global warming the storms which caused so much devastation and loss of life in the upper Himalayas in 2013.