Glacial mass balance changes in the Karakoram and Himalaya based on CMIP5 multi-model climate projections

Estimation of Glacier Mass Balance on a Basin Scale:An Approach Based on Satellite-Derived Snowlines and a Temperature Index Model

“…This could be because of the on-going climate change. There are indications that the current mass loss of glaciers could accelerate in the future 9,11 . Since the present approach can be implemented on a basin or regional scale when meteorological data are available, it can be used to infer the future deviations in mass balance when climate change projections of temperature and precipitation are incorporated into the method while keeping non-climatic variables constant.…”

“…The water availability can be affected due to current and future climate change [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] . This can affect biodiversity and ecosystems of the region 12 .…”

Identification of Potential Glacial Lake Sites and Mapping Maximum Extent of Existing Glacier Lakes in Drang Drung and Samudra Tapu Glaciers, Indian Himalaya

“…Though there is uncertainty in the rates of retreat of individual glaciers, on the whole the Himalayan glaciers have been losing mass at an increasing rate over the past few decades 2,3 . With the changing climate they are expected to lose more mass and the rates of retreat may increase further 4 . Unabated retreat of glaciers can lead to the formation of glacial lakes that are typically bound by loose soil and debris, which can cause glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs) upon failure of a dam and cause serious havoc downstream in a matter of a few hours 5 8 .…”

“…Therefore, changes in the percentage share of vehicles plying on urban roads affect traffic and emission characteristics such as average traffic fleet speed, delay due to congestion and fuel consumption 1 . Share autos running with more than allotted capacity consume more fuel resulting in higher emissions [2][3][4] . Inadequate maintenance of vehicles enhances emission from them [5][6][7][8][9] .…”

A Region at Risk:

“…Quantifying this transition has been difficult, however. Projections of future trends in both glacier extent and river discharge are extremely scarce in the region (Chaturvedi et al 2014) due to the scarcity and uncertainty in existing observations, particularly over the long term and at large scale. Existing climate change impact assessments are either highly uncertain, are local in scope, or only consider projected climate changes under a subset of RCP GHG scenarios.…”