What do you do when the snows you depend on for water are melting too quickly, and glaciers have receded high into the mountains? At the northern tip of India, the people of Ladakh are dealing with climate change by creating huge cones of ice that give desperate farmers water when they need it.
An Ice Stupa is a form of glacier grafting technique that creates artificial glaciers used for storing winter water (which otherwise would go unused) in the form of conical shaped ice heaps. During spring, when water is scarce, the Ice Stupa melts to increase water supply for crops. Ice Stupa was invented by
Sonam Wangchuk in Ladakh (India)
and the project is undertaken by the NGO Students Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh. Launched in October 2013, the test project started in January 2014 under the project name The Ice Stupa project. On 15 November 2016, Sonam Wangchuk was awarded the Rolex Awards for Enterprise for his work on Ice Stupa.
Watch a video about an ice stupa:
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