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Glacier Systems and Seasonal Snow Cover in Six Major Asian River Basins: Water Storage Properties under Changing Climate
The current status, recent and potential future changes of glacier systems and seasonal snow cover in the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Amu Darya, Syr Darya and Mekong river basins are for the first time systematically analyzed at the basin scale. The baseline (1961-1990) status of each basin’s glacier system is evaluated using a comprehensive meta-database for the 48,607 glaciers, which represents a new data product in its own right compiled specifically for this study. The data gaps in existing glacier inventories are identified and filled with expert estimates. It is illustrated that structur ...
Glacier Systems and Seasonal Snow Cover in Six Major Asian River Basins: Water Storage Properties under Changing Climate
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Available online: http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/IWMI_Research_Reports/PDF/PUB149/RR149.pd [...]
O., S. Savoskul ; V. Smakhtin ; International Water Management Institute
Published by: IWMI ; 2013The current status, recent and potential future changes of glacier systems and seasonal snow cover in the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Amu Darya, Syr Darya and Mekong river basins are for the first time systematically analyzed at the basin scale. The baseline (1961-1990) status of each basin’s glacier system is evaluated using a comprehensive meta-database for the 48,607 glaciers, which represents a new data product in its own right compiled specifically for this study. The data gaps in existing glacier inventories are identified and filled with expert estimates. It is illustrated that structural diversity of a glacier system determines how it responds to climate change. Recent changes in glacier systems are characterised using estimated annual rates of areal reduction and ice loss derived from data published by the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) and a compilation of sources based on remote sensing extending from 1960s to 2000s.
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Water ; Climate change ; Glacier ; Melting Ice ; Region II - Asia
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Arctic Report Card 2012
ssued annually since 2006, the Arctic Report Card (hereafter the Report Card) is a timely and peer-reviewed source for clear, reliable and concise environmental information on the current state of the Arctic relative to historical records. The Report Card is intended for a wide audience, including scientists, teachers, students, decision-makers and the general public interested in the Arctic environment and science.
Comprising 20 essays on different topics in the physical and biological sciences, the Report Card is organized into five sections: Atmosphere; Sea Ice & Ocean; Marin ...
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Available online: http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard
M.O. Jeffries ; J.A. Richter-Menge ; James E. Overland ; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (United States)
Published by: NOAA ; 2012ssued annually since 2006, the Arctic Report Card (hereafter the Report Card) is a timely and peer-reviewed source for clear, reliable and concise environmental information on the current state of the Arctic relative to historical records. The Report Card is intended for a wide audience, including scientists, teachers, students, decision-makers and the general public interested in the Arctic environment and science.
Comprising 20 essays on different topics in the physical and biological sciences, the Report Card is organized into five sections: Atmosphere; Sea Ice & Ocean; Marine Ecosystem; Terrestrial Ecosystem; and Terrestrial Cryosphere.Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Climate ; Global warming ; Melting Ice ; Cryosphere ; Sea ice ; Ecosystem ; Arctic
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Measuring Glacier Change in the Himalayas: In UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Global Environmental Alert Service (GEAS), September 2012
UNEP, 2012A serious lack of reliable and consistent data severely hampers scientific knowledge about the state of Himalayan glaciers. As a result, the contribution of glacial melt to the Himalayan river basins remains uncertain. This is of grave importance because declining water availability could threaten the food security of more than 70 million people. There is thus an urgent need to improve cross-boundary scientific collaboration and monitoring of glaciers to bridge the knowledge gap and allow policy options to be based on appropriate scientific evidence.
Measuring Glacier Change in the Himalayas: In UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Global Environmental Alert Service (GEAS), September 2012
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Available online: http://na.unep.net/geas/getUNEPPageWithArticleIDScript.php?article_id=91
Published by: UNEP ; 2012
A serious lack of reliable and consistent data severely hampers scientific knowledge about the state of Himalayan glaciers. As a result, the contribution of glacial melt to the Himalayan river basins remains uncertain. This is of grave importance because declining water availability could threaten the food security of more than 70 million people. There is thus an urgent need to improve cross-boundary scientific collaboration and monitoring of glaciers to bridge the knowledge gap and allow policy options to be based on appropriate scientific evidence.
Notes: Thematic Focus: Climate Change, Ecosystem Management
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Climate ; Climate monitoring ; Glacier ; Melting Ice ; Himalayas ; Region II - Asia
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Himalayan Glaciers: Climate Change, Water Resources, and Water Security
National Academies Press, 2012Scientific evidence shows that most glaciers in South Asia's Hindu Kush Himalayan region are retreating, but the consequences for the region's water supply are unclear, this report finds. The Hindu Kush Himalayan region is the location of several of Asia's great river systems, which provide water for drinking, irrigation, and other uses for about 1.5 billion people. Recent studies show that at lower elevations, glacial retreat is unlikely to cause significant changes in water availability over the next several decades, but other factors, including groundwater depletion and increasing human wat ...
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Available online: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13449
Published by: National Academies Press ; 2012
Scientific evidence shows that most glaciers in South Asia's Hindu Kush Himalayan region are retreating, but the consequences for the region's water supply are unclear, this report finds. The Hindu Kush Himalayan region is the location of several of Asia's great river systems, which provide water for drinking, irrigation, and other uses for about 1.5 billion people. Recent studies show that at lower elevations, glacial retreat is unlikely to cause significant changes in water availability over the next several decades, but other factors, including groundwater depletion and increasing human water use, could have a greater impact. Higher elevation areas could experience altered water flow in some river basins if current rates of glacial retreat continue, but shifts in the location, intensity, and variability of rain and snow due to climate change will likely have a greater impact on regional water supplies.
Himalayan Glaciers: Climate Change, Water Resources, and Water Security makes recommendations and sets guidelines for the future of climate change and water security in the Himalayan Region. This report emphasizes that social changes, such as changing patterns of water use and water management decisions, are likely to have at least as much of an impact on water demand as environmental factors do on water supply. Water scarcity will likely affect the rural and urban poor most severely, as these groups have the least capacity to move to new locations as needed. It is predicted that the region will become increasingly urbanized as cities expand to absorb migrants in search of economic opportunities. As living standards and populations rise, water use will likely increase-for example, as more people have diets rich in meat, more water will be needed for agricultural use. The effects of future climate change could further exacerbate water stress.
Himalayan Glaciers: Climate Change, Water Resources, and Water Security explains that changes in the availability of water resources could play an increasing role in political tensions, especially if existing water management institutions do not better account for the social, economic, and ecological complexities of the region. To effectively respond to the effects of climate change, water management systems will need to take into account the social, economic, and ecological complexities of the region. This means it will be important to expand research and monitoring programs to gather more detailed, consistent, and accurate data on demographics, water supply, demand, and scarcity.Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Water ; Climate change ; Glacier ; Melting Ice ; Himalayas ; South Asia ; Region II - Asia
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Le Karakorum, glacier de l'Himalaya qui ne fond pas: In lemonde.fr
2012Les glaciers de l'Himalaya fondent lentement, mais une partie d'entre eux sont dans un état stable, voire regagnent légèrement du volume : c'est ce qui ressort de deux articles scientifiques parus dans les revues Science du 20 avril et Nature Geoscience du 15 avril.
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Available online: http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2012/04/26/l-anomalie-du-karakorum-glacier [...]
Les glaciers de l'Himalaya fondent lentement, mais une partie d'entre eux sont dans un état stable, voire regagnent légèrement du volume : c'est ce qui ressort de deux articles scientifiques parus dans les revues Science du 20 avril et Nature Geoscience du 15 avril.
Language(s): French
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Climate ; Global warming ; Melting Ice ; Precipitation ; Himalayas ; Pakistan ; India ; China
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Sea-level rise and its possible impacts given a ‘beyond 4°C world’ in the twenty-first century
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 369. N° 1934. Nicholls Robert J.; Marinova Natasha; Lowe Jason A.; et al. - The Royal Society, 2011The range of future climate-induced sea-level rise remains highly uncertain with continued concern that large increases in the twenty-first century cannot be ruled out. The biggest source of uncertainty is the response of the large ice sheets of Greenland and west Antarctica. Based on our analysis, a pragmatic estimate of sea-level rise by 2100, for a temperature rise of 4°C or more over the same time frame, is between 0.5 m and 2 m—the probability of rises at the high end is judged to be very low, but of unquantifiable probability. However, if realized, an indicative analysis shows that the i ...
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Mountain glaciers face the heat
Global Change magazine, Issue 76. IGBP, 2011The recognition of an error in the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change put the spotlight on glaciers. Not all glaciers are about to disappear but their recession is real and so are the impacts the loss of this “stored water” will have on ecosystems and societies, Ray Bradley asserts.
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Has the Drake Passage Played an Essential Role in the Cenozoic Cooling?
Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters, Volume 3 Number 5. Zhang Zi-Yin; Gong Zhong-Shi; Yan Qing; et al. - Science Press, 2010The Drake Passage is the seaway between South America and Antarctica. It is widely believed that the thermal isolation effects caused by the opening of the Drake Passage played an important role in the abrupt cooling that occurred at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary in the Cenozoic. These effects are also thought to be independent of the geometry of the passage. Here, the authors demonstrate that the climate impacts of the Drake Passage depend on the passage geometry by comparing the climate’s sensitivity to the opening of the Drake Passage under the present and the Early Eocene land-sea configur ...
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Volume 3 Number 3 - 16 May 2010
is an issue of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters. Science Press, 2010Contains:
- Analysis of a Beijing Heavy Snowfall Related to an Inverted Trough in November 2009
LI Jin,ZHAO Si-Xiong,YU Fei
- Comparative Studies of Different Mesoscale Convection Parameterization Schemes in the Simulation of Mei-Yu Front Heavy Rain
PING Fan,LUO Zhe-Xian
- An Improved Atmospheric Vector Radiative Transfer Model Incorporating Rough Ocean Boundaries
FAN Xue-Hua,CHEN Hong-Bin,HAN Zhi-Gang,LIN Long-Fu
- A Case Study of the Impacts of Dust Aerosols on Surface Atmospheric Variables and Energy Budgets in ...
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Volume 23, Number 1 - January 2009 - Special review issue: Hydrologic effects of a shrinking cryosphere
is an issue of Hydrological Processes. Wiley-Blackwell, 2009
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Année polaire internationale, 2007-2008. Etat de la recherche polaire
Organisation météorologique mondiale (OMM); Conseil International pour la Science (ICSU) - OMM, 2009
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