KATHMANDU, Nepal– Second international conference on ‘Cryosphere of the Hindu Kush Himalaya: State of the Knowledge’ and the ‘Hindu Kush Himalayan Cryosphere Data Sharing’ workshop has kicked off in Lalitpur. The three-day conference and workshop, organised by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), is focused on the disasters caused by climate change in this region and ways of mitigating them. The conference will deliberate on ways of reducing the risk of avalanche and other natural disasters in the mountain areas. On the occasion, David Molden, Director General at ICIMOD expressed confidence that the conference would support the formulation of policies to tackle the effects of climate change in the mountain regions through the sharing of knowledge and information to that end. One hundred and sixty people from 16 countries are taking part in the conference and the workshop. Forty working papers on various topics will be discussed in the conference.