How the Himalayas Shape the Lives of Billions

Snow and rain falling high in the Himalayas can eventually affect distant people through rivers, weather, farming and energy. Although relatively few people live in these high mountains, the wider Hindu Kush Himalayan system influences the lives and livelihoods of nearly two billion people in Asia. How can one mountain system connect such distant communities? This section locates the Himalayas and explains how plate collision, uplift and erosion shape them.