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FACTS AND FIGURES ABOUT MOUNTAINS Mountainous areas make up 24% of the earth’s land surface and about 25% of the global population lives in or very near mountains. Mountains are often called nature's water towers. Because of their size and shape, they intercept air circulating around the globe and force it upwards where it condenses into clouds, which provide rain and snow. All the major rivers in the world - from the Rio Grande in South America to the Nile in Africa - have their headwaters in mountains. As a consequence, more than half the world's people rely on mountain water to grow food, to produce electricity, to sustain industries and, most importantly, to drink. Each day, one of every 2 people on the planet quenches his or her thirst with water that originates in mountains. One billion Chinese, Indians and Bangladeshis, 250 million people in Africa, and the entire population of California, United States, are among the 3 billion people who rely on the continuous flow of fresh, clean mountain water. In humid parts of the world, mountains provide 30% to 60% of the freshwater downstream. In semi-arid and arid environments, they provide 70% to 95%. Some of the freshwater obtained from mountains is stored in glaciers. Runoff from the Quelccaya Ice Cap, for example, has been the traditional water source for residents of Lima, Peru. Now, however, because of the effects of global warming, many mountain glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates. Over the last decade, melting of the Quelccaya Ice Cap has increased from 3 to 30 m a year, putting freshwater at risk for 10 million people. Similarly, in northern India an estimated 500 million people already plagued by water shortages, depend on tributaries of the glacier-fed Indus and Ganges Rivers. Scientists believe that, as Himalaya ice caps melt, these rivers will swell before falling to dangerously low levels. Mount Everest is the highest mountain on the earth. It rises 8,850 meters above the sea, on the border between Nepal and China. Cartographic compilations show that 48% of the world’s total terrestrial surface lies above 500 m; 27% above 1,000 m; 11% above 2,000 m; 5% above 3,000 m; and 2% above 4,000 m. All of the world’s mountains above 7,000 m are in Asia, and all 14 peaks above 8,000 are situated in the Greater Himalaya range extending along the southern rim of the Tibet Plateau.
Information from: Source: UNESCO Water Portal, December 2005
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