Letter To Editor: Snowless Mountains Signal Danger For Kashmir Valley

This winter, Kashmir seems to be holding its breath. Snow hasn't arrived, and the seasons no longer feel certain across mountains and plains.

Meadows stay green when they should be white, the silence of snowfall never comes, and the mountains stand bare.

What once felt special now feels alarming. The question is no longer“Why this winter?” but“What kind of future are we heading toward?”

Kashmir sits in the Himalayas, one of the world's most climate-sensitive regions. The mountains are warming faster than the global average. Even small rises in temperature can change snowfall, push snowlines higher, and shorten winter. Ancient glaciers, the keepers of water, are retreating year by year while life downstream remains largely unaware of the cost.

Snow in Kashmir is water stored for patience. It feeds rivers, recharges underground aquifers, nurtures wetlands, and sustains agriculture through long summers. Less snow weakens this cycle. The Jhelum and its tributaries flow unpredictably, wetlands shrink, and the balance between plenty and scarcity shifts.

Today's snowless winter may become tomorrow's water shortage, crop failure, and ecological trouble.

The effects on people are already visible. Farmers notice shifting seasons. Orchard owners struggle with fewer chilling hours needed for apples. Pastoral communities face changing grazing patterns. Winter tourism, once a steady source of income, is now uncertain.

Behind each empty hotel or canceled booking is a family trying to adjust. Climate change here is real, immediate, and personal.

Humans share the burden with nature. Roads, buildings, and unplanned construction scar the mountains. Forests, once natural climate protectors, have been cut or fragmented. Wetlands are encroached upon. Traffic and emissions rise, streams fill with plastic, and tourism often grows without care. We ask nature to give endlessly but forget to protect it.

Accountability begins at home. Protect forests and wetlands, plan towns with climate in mind, regulate tourism, use renewable energy, reduce waste, and raise local awareness.

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