The vulnerabilities of the Himalayan region will increase with the rising temperatures, as the melting of Himalayan glaciers would lead to massive floods frequently; glacier shrinkage due to accelerated pace of glacier melt could result in a shortage of water for purposes from hydropower to clean drinking water. Strong monsoon winds weaken when they interact with marine heat waves in both the western Indian Ocean and northern Bay of Bengal, resulting in dry spells over central India. The heat waves over the Bay of Bengal cause excess rainfall in southern India.
Climate change induced hazards such as floods, landslides, and droughts will impose significant stresses on the livelihoods of mountain people and downstream populations. Society will need to improve its adaptation strategies, and level structural inequalities that make adaptation by poor people more difficult. A significant threat posed by climate change in the Himalayas is the continual formation of a large number of glacial lakes. The lakes consist of vast quantities of glacial melt water held in place by natural dams of stone and rubble. The potential future effects of global climate change include more frequent wildfires, longer periods of drought in some regions and an increase in the wind intensity and rainfall from tropical cyclones. Warmer air is thinning most of the vast mountain range's glaciers, known as the Third Pole because they contain so much ice. The melting could have far-reaching consequences for flood risk and for water security for a billion people who rely on melt water for their survival. Droughts, irregular rainfall and erratic floods, landslides and mudslides, forest fires, pollution of our land and water, and energy insecurity. The principal activity is animal husbandry, but forestry, trade, and tourism are also important. The Himalayas abound in economic resources. Those include pockets of rich arable land, extensive grasslands and forests, workable mineral deposits, easy-to-harness waterpower, and great natural beauty. Reduction in ice cover reduces the water storage capacity of the Himalayas, and fluctuations in the precipitation pattern cause floods and droughts. The increased frequency of natural hazards including floods and droughts affects the economy and is a threat to people's life.