Asia: Climate change threatens water and energy supply

Climate change is having a massive impact on the Hindu Kush-Himalaya water system and endangering the water and energy supply of 16 Asian countries, according to a new analysis by the think tank China Water Risk (CWR). The advancing climate change is threatening the water levels of major rivers such as the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Yangtze, Yellow River and Mekong. These and five other major rivers in the region provide water for almost three-quarters of the hydropower and 44 percent of the coal-fired power plants in the 16 countries. Coal-fired power plants use water for cooling and steam generation to drive the generators.