The Himalayan Mountains in central Asia and Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the range and in the world, is one of the front lines for global warming in the world. Most climate scientists agree that the Himalayas, sometimes called the Third Pole because the range boasts the world's largest mass of non-polar ice, is quickly changing.

Annapurna, Himalayan MountainRange, Nepal.
[Photo: Jagdish Poudel]

The 1,500-mile-long range, straddling seven countries including China/Tibet, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Pakistan, has over 46,000 glaciers that fill huge glacial valleys, cirques, and perch on the faces of high peaks like Mount Everest. These glaciers, a huge repository of fresh water, are, like the ice caps in Antarctica, Greenland, and the North Pole region, melting. Right now it's estimated that about 95 percent of the Himalayan glaciers are shrinking--the result of soot from coal- and wood-burning stoves, highway emissions, and industrial pollution in nearby countries. And as the glaciers melt, bare rock, which absorbs sunlight and warmth, is exposed, leading to more melting. Read more;