Ice Stupas: The Artificial Mini Glaciers Bringing Water to Some of the Driest, Coldest Places on Earth

When the warmer, arid growing season arrives, the lower altitude streams quickly dry up and there is little water available again until June when the glaciers provide meltwater again. It is in this crucial window that the ice stupas start melting, offering an invaluable source of water for irrigation early in the growing season, extending the cropp

The sub-zero temperatures quickly freeze the water into the conical structure, so that a mass of ice begins to grow. The end result has the same high, narrow dome-shape typical of Buddhist shrines, hence the “stupa” part of the name, which slows down subsequent melting because the surface area exposed to the sun and warm temperatures is minimised.