Artificial glaciers are being built in the Himalayas to combat the growing affect climate change is having on natural glaciers.

Chewang Norphel creates the fake ice mounds in his village, where the water supply is dwindling because of receding glaciers.

Norphel builds the artificial glaciers by diverting seasonal runoff and trapping it in stone pens. The ice, now two metres thick, will melt in April when farmers sow their only crop of the year.

The extra water is essential in the high-altitude desert where the disappearing glaciers are the primary source of water and inhabitants rarely see more than five centimetres of rainfall a year.

Global warming has caused the icy snow around Ladakh to retreat as much as 10 kilometres higher. This means the glacial melt doesn't reach the area until June, too late for farmers.

"Our mainstay is agriculture. Without water the farmer can't do anything," Norphel told CTV News.

But artificial glaciers are expensive, costing anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000, depending on size. Also, government funding is fleeting.

And although artificial glaciers alleviate the problem, they can't remedy the wider impact of global warming on Asia and nearly half the world's population.

Scientists fear key, glacier-fed rivers could ultimately dry up.

"India, China, Pakistan and everybody is depending upon these glaciers there is no doubt about that," said glaciologist AL. Ramanathan.

With a report from CTV News's South Asia Bureau Chief Janis Mackey Frayer