High Asia: The International Dynamics of Climate Change and Water Security

Abstract

Asia, a region grappling with the impacts of climate change, increasing natural disasters, and transboundary water issues, faces major challenges to water security. Water resources there are closely tied to the dramatic Hindu-Kush Himalayan (HKH) mountain range, where over 46,000 glaciers hold some of the largest repositories of fresh water on earth (Qiu 2010). Often described as the water tower of Asia, the HKH harbors the snow and ice that form the headwaters of the continent's major rivers (Bandyopadhyay 2013). Downstream, this network of river systems sustains more than 1.3 billion people who depend on these freshwater sources for their consumption and agricultural production, and increasingly as a source of hydropower (Immerzeel, Van Beek, and Bierkens 2010; National Research Council 2012; Rasul 2014).

The Impact of Climate Change on Groundwater and Crop Yield in Asia: A Comprehensive Review

“…On the other hand, North Asia and certain parts of West Central Asia have observed notable positive trends in precipitation changes. As a result, South and Southeast Asia are considered the most vulnerable regions in the world in terms of this aspect [29][30][31]. The rise in sea levels are creating problems for low-lying coastal areas, leading to coastal erosion and the destruction of marine ecosystems and threatening the economy based on the coastal ecosystems [32].…”

Hydrologic Controls and Water Vulnerabilities in the Naryn River Basin, Kyrgyzstan: A Socio-Hydro Case Study of Water Stressors in Central Asia

“…The mine discharge sample provides exceptionally high levels of SO 4 2− (25,387 µeq L −1 ) and Na + (24,596 µeq L −1 ) to the mainstem waters. However, it is Ca 2+ poor (599 µeq L −1 ) and does not account for the high Ca 2+ values observed in both mainstem waters and tributaries that are hydrologically disconnected from the mine discharge waters (e.g., Bordu Stream and Arabel River).…”

“…Diagnostic tests for conservative tracers examining the randomness of residuals between actual and projected tracers suggest that the following tracers are conservative for the Upper Naryn: Ca 2+ , Na + , Mg 2+ , K + , Cl − , SO 4 2− , δ18O [20]. Solute concentration reconstructions using all of the tracers and two principal components rendered poor concentration reconstructions for Mg 2+ and Cl − so these tracers were dropped from the model and re-run with only Ca 2+ , Na + , K + , SO 4 2− , δ18O.…”

“…As with the upper basin, Ca 2+ , Na + , Mg 2+ , K + , Cl − , SO 4 2− , δ 18 O were deemed to be conservative as per the diagnostic tests from Hooper [10]. Also as with the Upper Naryn, two principal components were selected for analysis as they explain 94% of the data as compared to 78% variance explanation with 2 end members (1 dimension) ( Figure 5).…”

Reconstructed precipitation in the Lohit River basin, southern Tibetan Plateau since 1720 CE and its weak linkages with monsoon‐season Brahmaputra discharge

“…Water resources are the foundation of civilized development and one of the basic needs of human life (Steffen et al ., 2015; Boltz et al ., 2019; Kılıç, 2020). In Asia, with rapid economic and population growth, the increasing water resource demand has led to some regional water shortage crisis (Huntington, 2006; Sivakumar, 2011; Wilson et al ., 2017; Liu et al ., 2021; Chen et al ., 2021; Wang et al ., 2021a). High Asia (26°–46°N and 62°–105°E) refers to a vast area with the Tibetan Plateau as the centre and extending to the surrounding areas (Pritchard, 2017).…”