Towers of Ice

The Himalayas, in Central Asia, are the world’s tallest mountains. Tucked among them is a mostly flat valley in northwestern India. This region is called Ladakh (lah-DAHK). There, a surprising sight juts up from the land: giant cones of ice!

These ice towers didn’t form naturally. They were built to solve a problem. People in Ladakh were running out of water. Between 2007 and 2012, droughts forced families to flee the village of Kulum. Other Ladakh villages were also facing water shortages.

The Himalayas are the world’s tallest mountains. They’re found in Central Asia. Among them is a mostly flat valley. It’s in northwestern India. This area is called Ladakh (lah-DAHK). There, surprising objects jut up from the land. They are giant cones of ice!

These ice towers didn’t form naturally. They were built to solve a problem. People in Ladakh were running out of water. Droughts forced families to flee the village of Kulum. This happened between 2007 and 2012. Other Ladakh villages also had too little water.

More than half of Earth’s fresh water is frozen in glaciers. These masses of ice cover mountain peaks and large, cold areas like Greenland. Glaciers take hundreds of years to form.

Himalayan glaciers once held some of Earth’s largest supplies of fresh water. Each winter, the glaciers grow as snow piles up and freezes. In the spring and summer, some ice melts and flows in streams down the mountains. Farmers depend on this water to grow grains, vegetables, and other crops. As a cold desert, Ladakh receives just 10 centimeters (4 inches) of rain every year.

More than half of Earth’s fresh water is frozen in glaciers. These masses of ice cover mountain peaks. They’re also found in cold areas like Greenland. Glaciers take hundreds of years to form.

Himalayan glaciers once held some of Earth’s largest supplies of fresh water. The glaciers grow each winter. That’s when snow piles up and freezes. Some ice melts in the spring and summer. The water flows in streams downhill. Farmers depend on this water. It’s used to grow grains, vegetables, and other crops. Ladakh is a cold desert. It gets just 10 centimeters (4 inches) of rain every year.

But climate change is making Himalayan glaciers smaller. “Increased temperatures lead to less snowfall,” says Joseph Shea. He’s an earth scientist who studies glaciers at the University of Northern British Columbia in Canada. With less snow to replenish them each winter, the glaciers are shrinking. That means they are storing less water.

Water from the glaciers also gets to Ladakh later in the year than before. That’s because the parts of the glaciers at lower elevations have melted away. Now the smaller glaciers are higher up in the mountains. The meltwater has farther to travel to reach the valleys. By the time it arrives in the summer, it’s too late to use for watering newly planted crops.

But climate change is making Himalayan glaciers smaller. “Increased temperatures lead to less snowfall,” says Joseph Shea. He’s an earth scientist who studies glaciers. He works at the University of Northern British Columbia in Canada. Too little snow is causing glaciers to shrink. That means they store less water. 

Glacier water also gets to Ladakh later in the year than before. That’s because parts of the glaciers lower down the mountains have melted away. Only smaller glaciers remain higher up. Their meltwater has farther to travel to reach the valleys. It arrives too late to use for watering crops. 

People have tried building artificial glaciers in Ladakh before. But those were at high elevations that were hard for villagers to reach. Wangchuk thought the ice should be closer to the villages. This would make it easier for farmers to use the water in the spring.

Wangchuk and his team built their first ice stupa in 2013. The team builds the structures on winter nights, when the air temperature is below freezing. Underground, where it is warmer, glacier water flows downhill through cracks in the ground. Workers lay long pipes to carry this groundwater into a vertical spout near the village. They build a dome-shaped wooden frame around the spout (see Inside an Ice Stupa, page 17). Water flows through the pipe, sprays out of the spout, and freezes solid in the cold air.

Over the winter, this process builds up a large cone of ice, says Simant Verma, a former manager with the Ice Stupa Project. In the spring, when temperatures rise above freezing, water flows down from the stupa and into the village.

People have tried building artificial glaciers in Ladakh before. But those were high up in the mountains. That made them hard for villagers to reach. Wangchuk thought the ice should be closer to villages. This would make it easier for farmers to use the water in the spring.

Wangchuk and his team built their first ice stupa in 2013. The team builds the structures on winter nights. That’s when temperatures dip below freezing. Glacier water flows downhill through cracks underground. Workers lay long pipes that carry this water to a tall spout near the village. Workers build a dome-shaped wooden frame around the spout (see Inside an Ice Stupa, page 17). Water sprays out of the spout. Then it freezes to the frame in the cold air.

This process builds up a large cone of ice during the winter, says Simant Verma. He’s a former manager with the Ice Stupa Project. Temperatures warm in the spring. The ice stupa starts to melt. Its water flows to the village.

Since 2013, the Ice Stupa Project has built more than 75 stupas in Ladakh. In 2020, with the help of locals, they completed an ice stupa that provides water to Kulum. Some of the people who fled the droughts are starting to return home. Wangchuk’s team is also training Ladakh’s villagers to make their own ice stupas. The group even holds a yearly contest to see who can build the biggest one!

Ice stupas help villagers in Ladakh, but they can’t stop climate change, says Wangchuk. He wants the Ice Stupa Project to inspire people to work to protect the glaciers.

Verma agrees. “Ice stupas show the world that we are trying to adapt to a problem that is hitting us hard,” he says. “It’s time for others to learn about the problem and take action too.”

The Ice Stupa Project has built more than 75 stupas in Ladakh since 2013. The group finished an ice stupa for Kulum in 2020. Locals helped build it. Now some of the people who fled from droughts are returning home. Wangchuk’s team is also training Ladakh’s villagers. Then they can make their own ice stupas. The group even holds a yearly contest. People compete to build the biggest ice stupa!

Ice stupas help villagers in Ladakh. But they can’t stop climate change, says Wangchuk. He wants the Ice Stupa Project to inspire people. He wants them to work to protect glaciers.

Verma agrees. “Ice stupas show the world that we are trying to adapt to a problem that is hitting us hard,” he says. “It’s time for others to learn about the problem and take action too.”