Climate-related disasters are becoming more frequent and severe around the world, with millions of people facing life-threatening situations as international aid programs designed to prepare for such events are being reduced. In Nepal, Tenzin Dolma Ghale, a survivor of recent floods, recounted the loss of her entire village and family, as the disaster claimed over 1,450 lives and left more than 6,000 people missing. Harjeet Singh, founding director of the New Delhi-based Satat Sampada Climate Foundation, highlighted that developed nations have not fulfilled their financial commitments to support climate adaptation and disaster preparedness, which require trillions of dollars annually. In 2025, the Trump administration's cuts to U.S. foreign aid eliminated or drastically reduced programs that supported millions of people globally, worsening the situation for many vulnerable communities. Other major donor countries also reduced their contributions, deepening the funding crisis. One affected program was SERVIR-Hindu Kush Himalaya, a collaborative effort between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), NASA, and the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). This program used satellite technology and geospatial analysis to monitor disaster risks, water resources, and land use in countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. It also supported flood risk services, worked with the Nepal Red Cross on risk communication, and provided over 170 public data sets on glaciers, disasters, and vulnerability. Experts praised the program for its comprehensive research, cross-border cooperation, and support for local disaster prevention efforts. However, due to funding cuts from USAID, programs monitoring landslides, daily flooding, training, and regional collaboration were also impacted. A new report by global consultancy Systemiq, in partnership with ICIMOD, found that Himalayan glaciers are losing mass 65% faster than a decade ago. Yet, only about 0.1% of the estimated 40,000 glaciers in the region are currently monitored in detail and on a regular basis. In northern Pakistan, melting glaciers have created 3,044 glacial lakes, with over 30 of them likely to cause glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), which can be extremely destructive. These floods threaten areas where over 7 million people live, according to the United Nations Development Program. Afghanistan also faces a growing risk of GLOFs, as noted in research from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. In India, over 130 high-altitude lakes are at risk of flooding. South Asia has experienced devastating climate-related disasters, including the 2022 Pakistan floods, which killed over 1,700 people and caused an estimated $40 billion in damage. More recently, in 2025, floods in Nepal killed nine people and caused millions in damage. The Indian Himalayas have suffered from cloudbursts, landslides, flash floods, and extreme rainfall, resulting in over 12,000 deaths and billions in damages over the past 15 years. The region’s economic losses from climate-driven extreme weather reached at least $7 billion in 2025, according to the Emergency Events Database maintained by the University of Louvain, Belgium. This database itself is now at risk of closure due to USAID funding cuts.