第三极 · THE THIRD POLE
The Water Tower of Half of Asia — Asia · The Himalaya
喜马拉雅及其毗邻山脉，储藏着两极之外最多的冰，哺育着从印度河到长江的十条大河，为下游近 20 亿人供水。
当印度板块撞上亚洲，地壳褶皱隆起，至今仍在抬升；这道墙高得能把季风拧干，将雨雪倾倒在它的南坡。封存的冰雪在旱季缓缓释出，于是从巴基斯坦到中国东部的文明，归根结底都在饮用这些山。
The Himalaya and its neighbouring ranges hold more ice than anywhere outside the poles, and feed ten great rivers — from the Indus to the Yangtze — that water close to 2 billion people downstream.
When India crashed into Asia the crust crumpled upward, and is still rising; the wall it raised is high enough to wring the monsoon dry, dumping rain and snow on its southern flank. That stored ice releases water through the dry season, so cultures from Pakistan to eastern China are, in the end, drinking the mountains.