Srinagar, July 15 -- Mountains are speaking, and their message is urgent. A rise of nearly one degree Celsius in the high-altitude regions of Kashmir over just two decades is not a statistic to be tucked away in a research paper; It is a warning bell echoing across valleys, rivers and glaciers. Himalayas, once symbols of permanence, are shifting under the weight of a warming world, and the consequences will not remain confined to their snowy peaks.

The phenomenon of elevation-dependent warming is rewriting the climate script of the region. Higher altitudes, once thought to be insulated from rapid change, are heating faster than the plains. Winters are losing their bite, snow cover is shrinking, and nights are warming more quickly than da...