Climate change poses a serious threat to essential water resources in the Himalayan region putting the livelihoods of 1.3 billion people at risk, experts said Thursday. The mountainous region, home to the world's largest glaciers and permafrost area outside the Polar Regions, has seen rapid glacial melting and dramatic changes in rainfall, experts at the World Water Week conference in Stockholm said. "Himalayan glaciers are retreating more rapidly than anywhere else in the world,' said Mats Eriksson, programme manager for water and hazard management at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development. Although high altitudes, remoteness and cooperation difficulties between countries in the region have made it difficult to conduct comprehensive studies, Eriksson said it was obvious "the region is very strongly affected by climate change.' "The glaciers' retreat is enormous