A joint effort with Indian and Chinese scientists teaming up to study glacier behavior high in the Himalayan mountains will add more information about how these structures are being effected by rising atmospheric temperatures.

Scientists from both countries will work together to determine the rate of declines of the glaciers in some of the most remote areas of Tibet. “The melting of the ice sheets and the glaciers is a crisis in the Himalayas,” said Indian Mountaineering Foundation director H.P.S. Ahluwalia. The foundation is organizing the expedition with China’s Institute of Geology and Geophysics.

The countries are paying close attention because the glaciers are the source of the Sutlej and Brahmaputra rivers, vital sources of fresh water for drinking and farming in Northern India and parts of China. “In three to four decades these rivers that feed more than a billion people in our society and adjoining countries will become seasonal rivers,” said Ahluwalia.

According to scientists, flooding has been a problem with the increased melting but there are fears that if conditions continue that the source will dry up and the rivers could run dry for periods of time.