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Scientists have already observed that two thirds of the 46,000 glaciers in the Himalayas are shrinking, leading to increasingly severe floods downstream and, eventually, to widespread drought.

They're probably shrinking for the same reason that most other glaciers have been shrinking (well, except for those all over the world that are growing): sublimation of the ice due to less cloud cover and precipitation. This is what is responsible for the shrinking of the glaciers in Africa. It started in 1880.

Scientists have already observed that two thirds of the 46,000 glaciers in the Himalayas are shrinking, leading to increasingly severe floods downstream and, eventually, to widespread drought.

They're probably shrinking for the same reason that most other glaciers have been shrinking (well, except for those all over the world that are growing): sublimation of the ice due to less cloud cover and precipitation. This is what is responsible for the shrinking of the glaciers in Africa. It started in 1880.

Actually, it started with the end of the last "Ice-Age" nearly 12,000 years ago.

In fact, just before the Younger Dryas, the earth was warmer than it is today... yet it still managed to plunge into another ice age.

We are not in danger of warming the planet excessively, but of plunging into another ice-age.

The End of the last Ice Age

The Earth emerged from the ice age 14,000 years ago, and for a brief period1 of about 1,300 years, things actually went quite well. Forests began to grow back and magnificent creatures such as the Irish Elk and the Woolly Mammoth flourished in the rich temperate grasslands of Europe and North America. In fact, for a time, temperatures were even warmer than they are today.
The Younger Dryas

Then, around 12,700 years ago, the climate across North America, Europe and Western Asia suddenly reverted to bitterly freezing conditions. This period is known as the Younger Dryas. Icecaps reappeared over high ground and the sea levels dropped. The forests and grasslands died back, and the Irish Elk and Woolly Mammoth were driven towards final extinction. Human societies, still mainly accustomed to hunting and gathering for their sustenance, faced huge challenges as the fruits, cereals and animals on which they depended disappeared. Around this time, they adopted a new survival strategy that would enable them to live year-round, particularly during the long winter periods when absolutely no food was available. This was made possible through the intensive cultivation and nurturing of selected foodstuffs and animals close to home, an activity known today as farming. In this way, modern society was born.