2025 United Nations World Water Development Report published by UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

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The report highlights the vital role of mountains and alpine glaciers (water towers) in sustaining ecosystems, economies and societies.

Mountain Ecosystem

Ecosystem: Forests cover approximately 40% of the global mountain area and at higher elevation consists of grasslands and alpine tundra.
Water Regulation: An estimated two-thirds of irrigated agriculture globally depends on runoff contributions from mountains.
Carbon Storage: Mountain soils with permafrost contain approximately 66 Pg of soil organic carbon, which is 4.5% of the global pool.
Biodiversity: Mountain systems host 25 of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots containing high endemic biodiversity, preserving vital agricultural and medicinal plant gene pools etc.

Glacier Loss: Rapid melting in Andes (30–50% since 1980s), Hindu Kush Himalayas (50% glacier loss by 2100) etc. threatens water security.
Watermelon snow (glacier blood) effect: Red algae blooms lower surface albedo and accelerate snow melt.
Urbanization: It significantly alters the hydrological cycle, results in overexploitation of resources and disturbs ecological balance amplifying disasters.
Atmospheric Pollution: Due to long-range transport, ice cores and lake sediments have shown an increase in black carbon.

It is the largest and highest alpine ecosystem globally, averaging 4,000 m above sea level and covering 5 million km².
It holds 100,000 km² of glaciers, the largest storehouse of snow and ice outside the Arctic and Antarctic, feeding 12,000+ lakes and 10+ major river systems.
HKH, Tibetan Plateau, Pamir, Hengduan, Tien Shan, and Qilian mountains collectively span 5 million km² and are known as the Third Pole or Water Tower of Asia.