Kashmir's glaciers are shrinking at an alarming pace, with studies indicating that many have lost between 25 and 30 per cent of their ice over the past few decades as global warming drives rising temperatures across the Himalayas. Among the most severely affected is the Thajiwas Glacier in Sonamarg, one of Kashmir's best known tourist attractions. A recent study by researchers from the University of Kashmir and the Inter University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), New Delhi, found that the glacier has lost nearly 95 per cent of its ice cover since the Last Glacial Maximum, shrinking from approximately 54 square kilometres to just 2.5 square kilometres. Scientists attribute this dramatic decline to rising temperatures, declining winter snowfall, black carbon pollution and increasing tourism pressure. Experts warn that the continued disappearance of Himalayan glaciers threatens water security, agriculture, ecosystems and the livelihoods of millions who depend on glacier fed rivers across Kashmir and wider South Asian region.