India, June 6 -- Kashmir's glaciers are retreating at an alarming pace, with new scientific studies warning that rising temperatures, changing snowfall patterns and increasing pollution are rapidly transforming the Valley's upper Himalayan landscape and threatening long-term water security across the region.

A series of recent studies by researchers from the University of Kashmir and other scientific institutions have revealed that glaciers across Kashmir Himalaya have undergone severe shrinkage over the past several thousand years, with the pace of melting accelerating sharply in recent decades.

Among the most striking findings is the rapid collapse of the Thajwas Glacier near Sonamarg, which researchers describe as a remnant of a muc...