Impacts of climate change are diverse from decreasing water quantity to severity in extreme events.
Climate change is next most common primary threat after habitat loss and degradation, and exploitation through hunting and fishing. Rivers are like a barometer of climate change.
Precipitation patterns are shifting and raising temperatures resulting in more precipitation in the form of rain rather than snow. This will bring major impacts on the snow fed water systems of the Himalayas. It is not raining most often but when it rains is mostly a downpour, these are the changes in patterns of rainfall. This has brought a trend toward high variations in our river levels; experiencing record floods during monsoon and then a record drop to low water levels during fall.
Increase in extremes has impacted communities depending on river systems. Water quality are also decreasing affected by increase in polluted runoff from more frequent storms.