Glaciohydrology of the Himalaya-Karakoram

Mohd Farooq Azam; Jeffrey S. Kargel; Joseph M. Shea; Santosh Nepal; Umesh K. Haritashya; Smriti Srivastava; Fabien Maussion; Nuzhat Qazi; Pierre Chevallier; A. P. Dimri; Anil V. Kulkarni; J. Graham Cogley; Isamohan Bahuguna

doi:10.1126/science.abf3668

Glaciohydrology of the Himalaya-Karakoram

Mohd Farooq Azam^*, Jeffrey S. Kargel, Joseph M. Shea, Santosh Nepal, Umesh K. Haritashya, Smriti Srivastava, Fabien Maussion, Nuzhat Qazi, Pierre Chevallier, A. P. Dimri, Anil V. Kulkarni, J. Graham Cogley, Isamohan Bahuguna

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

151 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Understanding the response of Himalayan-Karakoram (HK) rivers to climate change is crucial for ~1 billion people who partly depend on these water resources. Policy-makers tasked with sustainable water resources management require an assessment of the rivers’ current status and potential futur changes. We show that glacier and snow melt are important components of HK rivers, with greater hydrological importance for the Indus basin than for the Ganges and Brahmaputra basins. Total river runoff, glacier melt, and seasonality of flow are projected to increase until the 2050s, with some exceptions and large uncertainties. Critical knowledge gaps severely affect modeled contributions of different runoff components, future runoff volumes, and seasonality. Therefore, comprehensive field observation–based and remote sensing–based methods and models are needed.

Original language	English
Article number	869
Journal	Science
Volume	373
Issue number	6557
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abf3668
Publication status	Published - 20 Aug 2021

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© 2021 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved.

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title = "Glaciohydrology of the Himalaya-Karakoram",

abstract = "Understanding the response of Himalayan-Karakoram (HK) rivers to climate change is crucial for ~1 billion people who partly depend on these water resources. Policy-makers tasked with sustainable water resources management require an assessment of the rivers{\textquoteright} current status and potential futur changes. We show that glacier and snow melt are important components of HK rivers, with greater hydrological importance for the Indus basin than for the Ganges and Brahmaputra basins. Total river runoff, glacier melt, and seasonality of flow are projected to increase until the 2050s, with some exceptions and large uncertainties. Critical knowledge gaps severely affect modeled contributions of different runoff components, future runoff volumes, and seasonality. Therefore, comprehensive field observation–based and remote sensing–based methods and models are needed.",

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AU - Azam, Mohd Farooq

AU - Kargel, Jeffrey S.

AU - Shea, Joseph M.

AU - Nepal, Santosh

AU - Haritashya, Umesh K.

AU - Srivastava, Smriti

AU - Maussion, Fabien

AU - Qazi, Nuzhat

AU - Chevallier, Pierre

AU - Dimri, A. P.

AU - Kulkarni, Anil V.

AU - Cogley, J. Graham

AU - Bahuguna, Isamohan

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N2 - Understanding the response of Himalayan-Karakoram (HK) rivers to climate change is crucial for ~1 billion people who partly depend on these water resources. Policy-makers tasked with sustainable water resources management require an assessment of the rivers’ current status and potential futur changes. We show that glacier and snow melt are important components of HK rivers, with greater hydrological importance for the Indus basin than for the Ganges and Brahmaputra basins. Total river runoff, glacier melt, and seasonality of flow are projected to increase until the 2050s, with some exceptions and large uncertainties. Critical knowledge gaps severely affect modeled contributions of different runoff components, future runoff volumes, and seasonality. Therefore, comprehensive field observation–based and remote sensing–based methods and models are needed.

AB - Understanding the response of Himalayan-Karakoram (HK) rivers to climate change is crucial for ~1 billion people who partly depend on these water resources. Policy-makers tasked with sustainable water resources management require an assessment of the rivers’ current status and potential futur changes. We show that glacier and snow melt are important components of HK rivers, with greater hydrological importance for the Indus basin than for the Ganges and Brahmaputra basins. Total river runoff, glacier melt, and seasonality of flow are projected to increase until the 2050s, with some exceptions and large uncertainties. Critical knowledge gaps severely affect modeled contributions of different runoff components, future runoff volumes, and seasonality. Therefore, comprehensive field observation–based and remote sensing–based methods and models are needed.

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JO - Science

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Glaciohydrology of the Himalaya-Karakoram

Abstract

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