scholarly journals Review article: Inferring permafrost and permafrost thaw in the mountains of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Gruber ◽  
Renate Fleiner ◽  
Emilie Guegan ◽  
Prajjwal Panday ◽  
Marc-Olivier Schmid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
Permafrost Thaw ◽  
Hindu Kush ◽  
Vegetation Water ◽  
Human Systems

Abstract. The cryosphere reacts sensitively to climate change, as evidenced by the widespread retreat of mountain glaciers. Subsurface ice contained in permafrost is similarly affected by climate change, causing persistent impacts on natural and human systems. In contrast to glaciers, permafrost is not observable spatially and therefore its presence and possible changes are frequently overlooked. Correspondingly, little is known about permafrost in the mountains of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region, despite permafrost area exceeding that of glaciers in nearly all countries. Based on evidence and insight gained mostly in other permafrost areas globally, this review provides a synopsis on what is known or can be inferred about permafrost in the mountains of the HKH region. Given the extreme nature of the environment concerned, it is to be expected that the diversity of conditions and phenomena encountered in permafrost exceed what has previously been described and investigated. We further argue that climate change in concert with increasing development will bring about diverse permafrost-related impacts on vegetation, water quality, geohazards, and livelihoods. To better anticipate and mitigate these effects, a deepened understanding of high-elevation permafrost in subtropical latitudes as well as the pathways interconnecting environmental changes and human livelihoods are needed.

scholarly journals Review article: Inferring permafrost and permafrost thaw in the mountains of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Gruber ◽  
Renate Fleiner ◽  
Emilie Guegan ◽  
Prajjwal Panday ◽  
Marc-Olivier Schmid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
Permafrost Thaw ◽  
Hindu Kush ◽  
Vegetation Water ◽  
Human Systems

Abstract. The cryosphere reacts sensitively to climate change, as evidenced by the widespread retreat of mountain glaciers. Subsurface ice contained in permafrost is similarly affected by climate change, causing persistent impacts on natural and human systems. In contrast to glaciers, permafrost is not observable spatially and therefore its presence and possible changes are frequently overlooked. Correspondingly, little is known about permafrost in the mountains of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, despite permafrost area exceeding that of glaciers in nearly all countries. Based on evidence and insight gained mostly in other permafrost areas globally, this review provides a synopsis on what is known or can be inferred about permafrost in the mountains of the HKH region. Given the extreme nature of the environment concerned, it is to be expected that the diversity of conditions and phenomena encountered in permafrost exceed what has previously been described and investigated. We further argue that climate change in concert with increasing development will bring about diverse permafrost-related impacts on vegetation, water quality, geohazards, and livelihoods. To better anticipate and mitigate these effects, a deepened understanding of high-elevation permafrost in subtropical latitudes as well as the pathways inter-connecting environmental changes and human livelihoods are needed.

scholarly journals Hindu Kush Himalayan Ecosystem as a Common Concern of Humankind: Imperative for Better Regional Jurisprudence

2017 ◽  
pp. 42-52
Author(s):  
Debasis Poddar
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Regional Climate Change ◽  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
Common Concern ◽  
Hindu Kush ◽  
The World

Hindu Kush Himalayan region (hereafter the HKH) - with 3500 odd kilometres stretched in eight countries- is default resource generation hub for about one-fifth population of the world. The ecosystem-growing delicate these days- seems to play a critical role for the survival of flora and fauna along with the maintenance of all its life-sustaining mountain glaciers. Ten major rivers to carry forward hitherto sustainable development of these peoples fall into question now. Further, in the wake of global climate change today, the delicate HKH ecosystem becomes increasingly fragile to unfold manifold consequences and thereby take its toll on the population. And the same might turn apocalyptic in its magnanimity of irreversibledamage. Like time-bomb, thus, climate ticks to get blown off. As it is getting already too delayed for timely resort to safeguards, if still not taken care of in time, lawmakers ought to find the aftermath too late to lament for. Besides being conscious for climate discipline across the world, collective efforts on the part of all regional states together are imperative to minimize the damage. Therefore, each one has put hands together to be saved from the doomsday that appears to stand ahead to accelerate a catastrophicend, in the given speed of global climate change. As the largest Himalayan state and its central positioning at the top of the HKH, Nepal has had potential to play a criticalrole to engage regional climate change regime and thereby spearhead climate diplomacy worldwide to play regional capital of the HKH ecosystem. As regional superpower, India has had potential to usurp leadership avatar to this end. With reasoningof his own, the author pleads for better jurisprudence to attain regional environmental integrity inter se- rather than regional environmental integration alone- to defendthe vulnerable HKH ecosystem since the same constitutes common concern of humankind and much more so for themselves. Hence, to quote from Shakespeare, “To be or not to be, that is the question” is reasonable here. While states are engaged in the spree to cause mutually agreed destruction, global climate change- with deadly aftermath- poses the last and final unifier for them to turn United Nations in rhetoric sense o f the term.

Understanding the impacts of climate change on high mountain practices: the case of the Mont Blanc massif through an interdisciplinary approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Salim ◽  
Jacques Mourey ◽  
Ludovic Ravanel ◽  
Pierre-Alain Duvillard ◽  
Maëva Cathala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Western Alps ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mont Blanc Massif

<p>The intensity of the current climate change has strong consequences on high mountain tourism activities. Winter activities are currently the most studied (ski industry). However, the consequences of environmental changes are also strong in summer, as geomorphological processes are enhanced at high elevation. The Mont Blanc Massif (Western Alps) is a particularly favourable terrain for the development of research about these processes. Emblematic high summits (28 of the 82 peaks > 4000 m of the Alps), dozens of glaciers, strongly developed tourism with summer/winter equivalence, active mountaineering practice, etc. all contribute to the interest of studying this geographical area. A lot of work has been carried out on glaciological and geomorphological issues. These studies, which deal with "physical" impacts of the climate change on the high mountains, are also supplemented by studies of their consequences on human societies, as its impacts on practices such as mountaineering or glacier tourism. Risk-related issues are also taken into account with, for example, the stability of infrastructure (huts, ski lifts) or the impact of glacial shrinkage on the formation of new and potentially hazardous lakes. Accordingly, the aims of our presentation are to show the extent of the research developed on climate change in the Mont Blanc massif and how social and environmental sciences are interlinked to provide a holistic vision of the issues of this territory. As these experiments are not exactly interdisciplinary experiments, this presentation also aims to discuss the points that need to be further developed in order to promote inter- and trans-disciplinary research.</p>

scholarly journals Climate anomalies associated to the occurrence of rockfalls at high-elevation in the Italian Alps

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Paranunzio ◽  
Francesco Laio ◽  
Marta Chiarle ◽  
Guido Nigrelli ◽  
Fausto Guzzetti
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Slope Failure ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Slope Instability ◽  
Slope Failures ◽  
Italian Alps ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Climate Anomalies ◽  
Permafrost Thaw ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Climate change is seriously affecting the cryosphere, in terms, for example of permafrost thaw, alteration of rain/snow ratio, glacier shrinkage. There is concern about the increasing number of rockfalls at high elevation in the last decades. Nevertheless, the impact of climate variables on slope instability at high elevation has not been fully explored yet. In this paper, we investigate 41 rockfalls occurred at high elevation in the Italian Alps between 1997 and 2013 in the absence of an evident trigger. We apply and improve an existing data-based, statistical approach to detect the anomalies of climate parameters (temperature and precipitation) associated to rockfall occurrences. The identified climate anomalies have been related to the spatio-temporal distribution of the events. Rockfalls occurred in association with temperature anomalies in 83 % of our case studies. Temperature represents a key factor contributing to slope failure occurrence in different ways. As expected, warmer temperatures accelerate snowmelt and permafrost thaw; however, surprisingly, negative anomalies are also often associated to slope failures. Interestingly, different regional patterns emerge from the data: higher-than-average temperatures are often associated to rockfalls in the Western Alps, while in the Eastern Alps slope failures are mainly associated to colder-than-average temperatures. The results of this study represent a first step towards the identification of the possible role of climate change in the triggering of slope failures in a mountain environment.

scholarly journals Effect of climate change on long-term river geometric variation in Andong Dam watershed, Korea

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong Mun Lee ◽  
Jungkyu Ahn ◽  
Young Do Kim ◽  
Boosik Kang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
River Regulation ◽  
Large River ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Output Analysis ◽  
Integrated Method ◽  
Geometric Variation

Abstract Because of multifunctional weirs installed as part of large river regulation works in Korea, water quality problems have arisen from environmental changes in tandem with decreased flow rates. However, there has been limited research into the green algae removal effect, water quality improvement in congested waters, dam and weir operations, and consequential riverbed changes. Studies regarding outflow in a basin, the application and development of sediment load output analysis methods, feasibility of related dam operations, and riverbed patterns have been separately performed. However, basins and rivers should be analyzed by an integrated method instead of an individual one. Therefore, in the present study, the effect of congestion on a river connected to a dam/weir and estuary bank was analyzed based on climate change scenarios HadGEM3-RA RCP 4.5 and 8.5, with the aim of integrating individual studies using watershed and river models. Flow was controlled by dam- and weir-related discharge simulations. Variations in the riverbed caused by the transfer of suspended load in the downstream region were analyzed for both long and short durations. The results of this analysis suggest that given future climate change scenarios, the width of the river and riverbed variations in the riverbed are expected to rise.

A modeling approach to simulate impact of climate change in lake water quality: phytoplankton growth rate assessment

1998 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hany Hassan ◽  
Keisuke Hanaki ◽  
Tomonori Matsuo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Growth Rate ◽  
Dissolved Oxygen ◽  
Lake Water ◽  
Phytoplankton Growth ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Lake Water Quality ◽  
Phytoplankton Growth Rate

Global climate change induced by increased concentrations of greenhouse gases (especially CO2) is expected to include changes in precipitation, wind speed, incoming solar radiation, and air temperature. These major climate variables directly influence water quality in lakes by altering changes in flow and water temperature balance. High concentration of nutrient enrichment and expected variability of climate can lead to periodic phytoplankton blooms and an alteration of the neutral trophic balance. As a result, dissolved oxygen levels, with low concentrations, can fluctuate widely and algal productivity may reach critical levels. In this work, we will present: 1) recent results of GCMs climate scenarios downscaling project that was held at the University of Derby, UK.; 2) current/future comparative results of a new mathematical lake eutrophication model (LEM) in which output of phytoplankton growth rate and dissolved oxygen will be presented for Suwa lake in Japan as a case study. The model parameters were calibrated for the period of 1973–1983 and validated for the period of 1983–1993. Meterologic, hydrologic, and lake water quality data of 1990 were selected for the assessment analysis. Statistical relationships between seven daily meteorological time series and three airflow indices were used as a means for downscaling daily outputs of Hadley Centre Climate Model (HadCM2SUL) to the station sub-grid scale.

THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON WATER QUALITY IN THE CORDILLERA BLANCA, PERU

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Longo ◽  
◽  
Elizabeth Balgord ◽  
Timothy F. Diedesch ◽  
John All
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Cordillera Blanca ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
The Impact
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