Climate change impacts and adaptation to permafrost change in High Mountain Asia: a comprehensive review

Abstract

Changing climatic conditions in High Mountain Asia (HMA), especially regional warming and changing precipitation patterns, have led to notable effects on mountain permafrost. Comprehensive knowledge of mountain permafrost in HMA is mostly limited to the mountains of the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau (QTP), with a strong cluster of research activity related to critical infrastructure providing a basis for related climate adaptation measures. Insights related to the extent and changing characteristics of permafrost in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), are much more limited. This study provides the first comprehensive review of peer-reviewed journal articles, focused on hydrological, ecological, and geomorphic impacts associated with thawing permafrost in HMA, as well as those examining adaptations to changes in mountain permafrost. Studies reveal a clear warming trend across the region, likely resulting in increased landslide activity, effects on streamflow, soil saturation and subsequent vegetation change. Adaptation strategies have been documented only around infrastructure megaprojects as well as animal herding in China. While available research provides important insight that can inform planning in the region, we also identify a need for further research in the areas of hazards related to changing permafrost as well as its effect on ecosystems and subsequently livelihoods. We suggest that future planning of infrastructure in HMA can rely on extrapolation of already existing knowledge within the region to reduce risks associated with warming permafrost. We highlight key research gaps as well as specific areas where insights are limited. These are areas where additional support from governments and funders is urgently needed to enhance regional collaboration to sufficiently understand and effectively respond to permafrost change in the HKH region.

Research on the aggregation phenomena in moraine soil: a new approach to disperse them through a particle size analysis

“…The accelerated melting of glaciers leads to increased exposure of moraine soils and eluvium gravels, which can be used as loose solid deposits for agricultural and forestry purposes. However, these loose deposits can also pose a hidden danger as solid material sources of geologic hazards, such as glacier debris ows, landslides, and ice lake outbursts [42]. Therefore, investigating the particle size characteristics of moraine soils in Bengga Valley under global warming is highly signi cant.…”

Response of Alpine Timberline to Permafrost Degradation on Changbai Mountain

“…The degradation of permafrost promotes the upward shift of the alpine timberline. Climate is an important driver of permafrost degradation [7,[54][55][56]. Under the background of global warming, the low-temperature limitation in high latitudes is gradually lifted, while the vegetation shows a certain trend of growth [57].…”

Potential vegetation changes in the permafrost areas over the Tibetan Plateau under future climate warming

“…The Tibetan Plateau (TP; Figure 1) hosts the world's most extensive high-altitude permafrost areas, estimated at 1.15 × 10 6 km 2 (2005-2015) . Previous studies showed that permafrost had undergone significant degradation due to anthropogenic warming Baral et al, 2023), as evidenced by increased mean annual ground temperature (MAGT) (Q. , increased active layer thickness (ALT) (Q. Qin et al, 2017), reduced permafrost thickness and areas (D. , and altered geomorphological features (T. Gao et al, 2021;.…”