Recent studies showed that the Himalayan glaciers are reducing alarmingly. This is attributed to global warming. Since the melt water of Himalayan glaciers and snow is the principal source of water for several rivers,...Recent studies showed that the Himalayan glaciers are reducing alarmingly. This is attributed to global warming. Since the melt water of Himalayan glaciers and snow is the principal source of water for several rivers, a decrease of this source is a calamity for the large fraction of global population living in nearby regions such as India. In Asia for the 60% global population only 36% of global water is available. Any further decrease of this vital necessity makes the very existence of billions of people doubtful. Here we show, using both observations and one IPCC-AR4 model with high horizontal resolution, that the Himalayan region in fact underwent a maximum warming of 2.5°C from 1950 to 1999 and would reach the highest temperature rise of 9°C in 2100. Temperature and rainfall variations determine a simple climate classification proposed by Köppen. We show changes that occur in climate and biosphere using this classification. Also we discussed the impact of warming and resulting changes in Köppen climates on the floods and malaria in India.展开更多
Glaciers are dynamic reservoirs of constantly exchanging mass with parts of global hydrological system, process by which glaciers gain or lose snow and ice and establish a link between climate, glacier mass and glacie...Glaciers are dynamic reservoirs of constantly exchanging mass with parts of global hydrological system, process by which glaciers gain or lose snow and ice and establish a link between climate, glacier mass and glacier fluvial dynamics related directly to the behaviour of climate. Here, we report on glacier status over the past 50 years (1962-2013) on remotely-sensed volumetric changes of glaciers in Drass glacier basin, Ladakh Mountain, North-West Himalaya. Drass basin houses 150 glaciers of different dimensions predominantly (nearly 75%) by small sized glaciers. The glaciers monitored on multi-temporal satellite images of the year’s 2001, 2013 for short-term basis, and, Survey of India topographic sheets of 1965 (surveyed in 1963) on long-term basis. Machoi glacier has been selected for detailed study to assess health and fluctuation record on which observation has been made since the year 1875. The long-term monitoring (1965-2001) of 81 glaciers shows that 12.5% of glaciers have gained the area whereas 14% of large glaciers lost area 5% to 15%, and remaining 73% glaciers lost area marginally (<5%). The short-term monitoring shows that 80% glaciers do not show any change in area;even large glaciers vacated 0.64% - 2.6% area and small glaciers 1.68% - 9% glacier area. The trends in annual, seasonal and monthly maximum/minimum temperature and precipitation (snowfall and rainfall) of Drass for period 1987-2013 show that two different patterns of weather conditions: 1988-2001, cold moist winters with dry summers, and 2002-2013, a period of long winters and cool and moist summers, corroborate with transitional phase of glacier behaviour. This phenomenon has resulted in incorporating no change in area of 80% of glacier (120 glaciers) and remaining 20 percentage of glaciers show marginal loss in area. The positive balance mass for last four years (2011-2014) in benchmark Machoi glacier with cumulative specific balance +0.16 m w.e/km2/yr further indicates about the stability phase of the glaciers.展开更多
Although Himalayan glaciers are of particular interest in terms of future water supplies, regional climate changes, andsea-level rises, little is known about them due to lack of reliable and consistent data. There is ...Although Himalayan glaciers are of particular interest in terms of future water supplies, regional climate changes, andsea-level rises, little is known about them due to lack of reliable and consistent data. There is a need for monitoring theseglaciers to bridge this knowledge gap and to provide field measurements necessary to calibrate and validate the resultsfrom different remote sensing operations. Therefore, glaciological observations have been carried out by the CryosphereMonitoring Project （CMP） since September 2011 on Rikha Samba Glacier in Hidden valley, Mustang district in westernNepal in order to study its annual mass balance. This paper presents the first results of that study. There are 10 glaciers inHidden Valley, named G1, G2, G3, up to G10. Of these, G5 is the Rikha Samba Glacier, which has the largest area （5.37km2） in this valley and the highest and lowest altitudes （6,476 and 5,392 m a.s.l., respectively）. The glacier mass balancediscussed in this paper was calculated using the glaciological method and the equilibrium line altitude （ELA）. The glaciershowed a negative annual point mass balance along the longitudinal profile of its lower part from September 10, 2011 toOctober 3, 2012. Stake measurements from October 4, 2012 to September 30, 2013 indicated a negative areal average ofannual mass balance ？0.088±0.019 m w.e. for the whole glacier. Based on these observations, the ELA of the Rikha SambaGlacier is estimated at 5,800 m a.s.l. in 2013. This negative balance may be due to rising air temperatures in the region,which have been incrementally rising since 1980 accompanied by little or no significant increase in precipitation in thatperiod. The negative mass balance confirms the general shrinking trend of the glacier.展开更多
文摘Recent studies showed that the Himalayan glaciers are reducing alarmingly. This is attributed to global warming. Since the melt water of Himalayan glaciers and snow is the principal source of water for several rivers, a decrease of this source is a calamity for the large fraction of global population living in nearby regions such as India. In Asia for the 60% global population only 36% of global water is available. Any further decrease of this vital necessity makes the very existence of billions of people doubtful. Here we show, using both observations and one IPCC-AR4 model with high horizontal resolution, that the Himalayan region in fact underwent a maximum warming of 2.5°C from 1950 to 1999 and would reach the highest temperature rise of 9°C in 2100. Temperature and rainfall variations determine a simple climate classification proposed by Köppen. We show changes that occur in climate and biosphere using this classification. Also we discussed the impact of warming and resulting changes in Köppen climates on the floods and malaria in India.
文摘Glaciers are dynamic reservoirs of constantly exchanging mass with parts of global hydrological system, process by which glaciers gain or lose snow and ice and establish a link between climate, glacier mass and glacier fluvial dynamics related directly to the behaviour of climate. Here, we report on glacier status over the past 50 years (1962-2013) on remotely-sensed volumetric changes of glaciers in Drass glacier basin, Ladakh Mountain, North-West Himalaya. Drass basin houses 150 glaciers of different dimensions predominantly (nearly 75%) by small sized glaciers. The glaciers monitored on multi-temporal satellite images of the year’s 2001, 2013 for short-term basis, and, Survey of India topographic sheets of 1965 (surveyed in 1963) on long-term basis. Machoi glacier has been selected for detailed study to assess health and fluctuation record on which observation has been made since the year 1875. The long-term monitoring (1965-2001) of 81 glaciers shows that 12.5% of glaciers have gained the area whereas 14% of large glaciers lost area 5% to 15%, and remaining 73% glaciers lost area marginally (<5%). The short-term monitoring shows that 80% glaciers do not show any change in area;even large glaciers vacated 0.64% - 2.6% area and small glaciers 1.68% - 9% glacier area. The trends in annual, seasonal and monthly maximum/minimum temperature and precipitation (snowfall and rainfall) of Drass for period 1987-2013 show that two different patterns of weather conditions: 1988-2001, cold moist winters with dry summers, and 2002-2013, a period of long winters and cool and moist summers, corroborate with transitional phase of glacier behaviour. This phenomenon has resulted in incorporating no change in area of 80% of glacier (120 glaciers) and remaining 20 percentage of glaciers show marginal loss in area. The positive balance mass for last four years (2011-2014) in benchmark Machoi glacier with cumulative specific balance +0.16 m w.e/km2/yr further indicates about the stability phase of the glaciers.
基金the HKH Cryosphere Monitoring Project implemented by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairspartially supported by core funds of ICIMOD contributed by the governments of Afghanistan, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Norway, Pakistan, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom
文摘Although Himalayan glaciers are of particular interest in terms of future water supplies, regional climate changes, andsea-level rises, little is known about them due to lack of reliable and consistent data. There is a need for monitoring theseglaciers to bridge this knowledge gap and to provide field measurements necessary to calibrate and validate the resultsfrom different remote sensing operations. Therefore, glaciological observations have been carried out by the CryosphereMonitoring Project （CMP） since September 2011 on Rikha Samba Glacier in Hidden valley, Mustang district in westernNepal in order to study its annual mass balance. This paper presents the first results of that study. There are 10 glaciers inHidden Valley, named G1, G2, G3, up to G10. Of these, G5 is the Rikha Samba Glacier, which has the largest area （5.37km2） in this valley and the highest and lowest altitudes （6,476 and 5,392 m a.s.l., respectively）. The glacier mass balancediscussed in this paper was calculated using the glaciological method and the equilibrium line altitude （ELA）. The glaciershowed a negative annual point mass balance along the longitudinal profile of its lower part from September 10, 2011 toOctober 3, 2012. Stake measurements from October 4, 2012 to September 30, 2013 indicated a negative areal average ofannual mass balance ？0.088±0.019 m w.e. for the whole glacier. Based on these observations, the ELA of the Rikha SambaGlacier is estimated at 5,800 m a.s.l. in 2013. This negative balance may be due to rising air temperatures in the region,which have been incrementally rising since 1980 accompanied by little or no significant increase in precipitation in thatperiod. The negative mass balance confirms the general shrinking trend of the glacier.
