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Ciril Jazbec

Towers of Ice

Engineers build giant mounds of ice to bring water to Himalayan villages

By Anita Abedian

Learning Objective: Students will explain and model a community solution to a problem caused by climate change.

Lexile: 920L; 610L
Guided Reading Level: S
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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.

© Rolex/Stefan Walter

Sonam Wangchuk

Why? Huge masses of ice called glaciers cover the tops of the Himalayas. When it’s warm, parts of the glaciers melt. Water flows down to villages in the valleys. But as climate change causes temperatures on Earth to rise, these glaciers are shrinking. That’s a big issue for the people of Ladakh, says Sonam Wangchuk, an engineer who grew up there.

Wangchuk founded the Ice Stupa Project, an organization that builds artificial glaciers in Ladakh. The structures are called “ice stupas” because they are shaped like stupas, a type of Buddhist shrine. Ice stupas can hold up to 11 million liters (3 million gallons) of water! They melt slowly to supply water to villagers in Ladakh year-round.

Why? The tops of the Himalayas are covered by glaciers. Glaciers are huge masses of ice. Parts of the glaciers melt when it’s warm. Water flows down to villages in the valleys. But climate change is causing temperatures on Earth to rise. Glaciers are shrinking as a result. That’s a big issue for the people of Ladakh, says Sonam Wangchuk. He’s an engineer who grew up in Ladakh.

Wangchuk created the Ice Stupa Project. It’s a group that builds artificial glaciers in Ladakh. The structures are called “ice stupas.” That’s because they’re shaped like stupas. Stupas are a type of Buddhist shrine. Ice stupas can hold up to 11 million liters (3 million gallons) of water! They melt slowly. That supplies water to villagers in Ladakh year-round.

Water Shortage

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. 

Sierra Gladfelter

Workers build a wooden framework to support an ice stupa (left). Water sprays out of a spout and freezes around the structure, forming a cone of ice (right).
1. Glacial water sprays from this vertical pipe.

Building Glaciers

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. 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. 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.

Water for All

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.”     

video (1)
Activities (2)
Quizzes (1)
Answer Key (1)
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan

1. ENGAGE: Watch a video about the water cycle and activate prior knowledge about sources of fresh water.

  • Ask: Where do you get fresh water? (e.g., from faucets or water fountains) How does it get to those places? Play the video “The Water Cycle.” Ask students to connect the water cycle to their fresh water (e.g., pipes carry water from an underground source, which is fed by rain, which comes from clouds). Ask: What can happen if there’s too much water in a community? (flooding) Too little water? (drought)
  • Explain that most fresh water on Earth is in large bodies of accumulated snow called glaciers and that they are going to read about communities that rely on water from glaciers.

2. EXPLORE: Read an article about artificial glaciers that provide vital water to a farming community in the Himalayas.

  • Read the article. Ask students to list problems that were described on pages 17-18 (e.g., droughts, water arriving too late, shrinking glaciers, climate change, decreased snowfall). Record the list of problems, and discuss how they are related. When one problem contributes to another, connect them with an arrow (e.g., climate change contributes to decreased snowfall; decreased snowfall can cause droughts).
  • Ask: Which problems can ice stupas address? (droughts, water arriving too late) Why do people working on the Ice Stupa Project need others to take action? (The glaciers could disappear completely if climate change isn’t addressed.)

3. EXPLAIN: Interpret a map about a receding glacier in the Indian Himalayan region.

  • Preview the map skills sheet Glacial Change, discussing how the map shows elevation and changes in the glacier over time. Have students complete it in pairs and then discuss their answers as a class.

4. EXTEND: Model why the shape of ice stupas is important.

  • Review the sidebar “Inside an Ice Stupa” (p. 17). Ask: Does the shape of an ice stupa matter? Preview Watch for Water, a hands-on activity. To prepare the activity, have students complete steps 1-3. Then freeze the cups of water and ice cubes overnight. (Note: If you prefer to do this with premade ice cubes, a cup of water weighs about 230 grams, so you can prepare ice cubes with that weight.) Have students work in groups of three or more, recording their observations every 15 minutes. Have groups share their results.
  • Come to a consensus on statements like: Ice is colder than the air in the room. Ask: Why do you think the ice cubes melted faster than the cone shape? Sketch both shapes. Color the ice cubes in blue and the surrounding air in red. Ask students what those colors represent (the air is warmer than the ice). Ask which shape of ice has more areas in direct contact with the air. Then have students complete the activity’s conclusion questions.

5. EVALUATE: Check for understanding and reinforce core ideas with a low-stakes assessment.

  • Have students complete the No-Sweat Bubble Test in pairs. Then reread the article’s closing quote. Discuss other ways people are trying to help manage the effects of climate change, as well as address its causes.

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