"Residents of the Himalayas and other mountain areas face a 'tough and unpredictable future' as global warming melts glaciers and threatens worse floods and water loss, officials said during U.N. climate talks on Tuesday.

A study said that glaciers in southern Chile and Argentina, followed by ones in Alaska, had been losing mass 'faster and for longer than glaciers in other parts of the world.'

Negotiators at two-week talks in Cancun, a seaside resort in Mexico, have been seeking agreement on how to cut the greenhouse gases from fossil fuels, forest loss and land changes that are stoking global warming and threatening dangerous climate changes.

Tuesday's report, by the United Nations Environment Program, found that many people in vulnerable mountainside homes are already living with the growing risks of global warming and need more support to help them adapt to a changing landscape."

Chris Buckley reports for Reuters December 8, 2010. [2]