The Himalayan Mountains, called the 3rd pole because they store the most frozen water after the Arctic and Antarctic, provide water to 1.3 billion people living in the Ganges, Indus, Mekong, and Yangtze water systems. The vast system of peaks, glaciers, and streams that end in the flatlands and valleys of India and China have long supported civilizations, ecosystems, and agriculture, as well as challenging adventurers with the most difficult and unforgiving mountaineering on Earth.

As is the case with the North and South Pole, the Himalayan pole is rapidly losing its glaciers and multi-year snow pack. Since 1975, Nepal’s average temperature has increased by 1.5C, causing its glaciers to melt into giant lakes, releasing torrential spring streams that flood the lowlands and damage agriculture, property, bridges, and trails. The new lakes are cupped in melting ice, which will one day fold in, unleashing the waiting water on the villages and camps below (this occurrence is unfortunately termed a glof, for glacial lake outburst flood, but I think mountain tsunami gets the point across better).

Times are uncertain for Nepal’s tourism industry, which depends on Himalayan mountaineering. A network of trails, base camps, bridges, and other infrastructure to Mt. Everest lie directly in the line of the largest lake at Imja Glacier, and could be destroyed by glofs. Another challenge is the changing face of the mountains themselves. The summit at Everest has shrunk, and a new crevasse is opening there. Former knowledge of crevasses, glaciers, and paths are rapidly changing, as new crevasses form, as ice packs disappear, as running water reforms the landscape.

It’s also unclear how climate change will effect the many unique animal species that call the Himalayas their home. Over the past decade, 350 new species have been discovered in remote regions of the mountain range, such as a flying frog and the “leaf deer”, one of the oldest and smallest species of deer in the world.

Natural extremes, such as the poles, the Himalayas, Greenland, are seeing the effects of global warming now – witnessing them before their eyes. In the decades to come, as climate change becomes more visible in all areas, we’ll look to countries like Nepal, agricultural centers like those along the Mekong, and animal species like those in the Himalayas for lessons and solutions to deal with climate change. A lot of international activity is buzzing around the third pole, and the results could ease climate change for all of us.

Check out this slideshow for some pictures of the Himalayas and mountaineering.