New Delhi, Feb. 7 -- Climate Change and You is a fortnightly newsletter written by Bibek Bhattacharya and Sayantan Bera. Subscribe to the newsletter to get it directly in your inbox.

There was much excitement in the final couple of weeks of January as parts of the Indian Himalaya had sustained snowfall. Amidst all the tourist selfies and Instagram Reels of gently drifting snowflakes swirling around Palampur in Himachal Pradesh, one fact was clear: Across the range, the mountains are suffering from an acute case of "snow drought".

Himalayan ecosystems, as well as agriculture, depend primarily on winter precipitation, mostly in the form of snowfall. But according to the Indian Meteorological Department's (IMD) seasonal rainfall data for t...