Climate-related hydrological change and human vulnerability in remote mountain regions: a case study from Khumbu, Nepal

McDowell, Graham; Ford, James D.; Lehner, Bernhard; Berrang‐Ford, Lea; Sherpa, Ang Phuri

doi:10.1007/s10113-012-0333-2

Cited by 88 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…These observations are in line with the findings of previous scholars [41,47,48] who have reported advancing growing season and change in the phenology of the vegetation in the Himalayas. There are some literatures that have indicated drying of water resources and increase in drought in the eastern part of Nepal [40,49] and our results for Khumjung and Kalinchok also correspond to them. Large proportions of herders agreed statements that new livestock diseases appeared.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Climate Change and Indigenous People: Perceptions of Transhumant Herders and Implications to the Transhumance System in the Himalayas

Aryal¹,

Maraseni²,

Cockfield³

2014

J Geol Geosci

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Climate Change and Indigenous People: Perceptions of Transhumant Herders and Implications to the Transhumance System in the Himalayas

Aryal¹,

Maraseni²,

Cockfield³

2014

J Geol Geosci

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“…It is well established in the wider human dimensions of climate change literature that adaptive capacity (and therefore vulnerability) varies widely within and among communities due to the effects of power, marginalization, and difference [56,57]. In view of this, mountain-focused adaptation research must endeavor to understand the role of non-climatic circumstances in influencing how people experience and respond to glacio-hydrological change [58]. This requires fieldwork in climate-affected areas as well as the integration of local voices in problem identification, description, and resolution.…”

Section: Principle 2-attention To the Human Dimensions Of Hydrologicamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This requires fieldwork in climate-affected areas as well as the integration of local voices in problem identification, description, and resolution. Such "human dimensions" studies in the mountain-focused literature include those by Mark et al [53], Macchi et al [59], and McDowell et al [58]. Adaptation studies that do not assess social conditions will be incapable of identifying vulnerability hotspots, determining whether autonomous adaptations are adequate, or providing appropriate information for adaptation planning.…”

Section: Principle 2-attention To the Human Dimensions Of Hydrologicamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If residents in such regions have high levels of social and cultural capital, experience equitable socio-economic conditions, and are embedded within supportive social networks, their vulnerability to hydrological changes may be relatively low (e.g., some communities in the European Alps), e.g., [61]. Conversely, through evaluating the human dimensions of glacio-hydrological change, researchers can recognise regions where high vulnerability to even minor hydrological changes is likely a function of difficult non-climatic circumstances (for instance, several communities in the Eastern Himalaya), e.g., [58]. Understanding the socio-economic and political conditions that influence lived experiences of glacial-hydrological change is therefore a precondition of robust adaptation research.…”

Section: Principle 2-attention To the Human Dimensions Of Hydrologicamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mark et al [53] McDowell et al [58] Macchi et al [59] Attention to socio-ecological dynamics Effectiveness Sustainability…”

Section: Principle 3-attention To Socio-ecological Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Robust Adaptation Research in High Mountains: Integrating the Scientific, Social, and Ecological Dimensions of Glacio-Hydrological Change

McDowell

Koppes

2017

Water

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Climate-related changes in glacierized watersheds are widely documented, stimulating adaptive responses among the 370 million people living in glacier-influenced watersheds as well as aquatic and riparian ecosystems. The situation denotes important interdependencies between science, society, and ecosystems, yet integrative approaches to the study of adaptation to such changes remain scarce in both the mountain-and non-mountain-focused adaptation scholarship. Using the example of glacio-hydrological change, it is argued here that this analytical limitation impedes the identification, development, and implementation of "successful" adaptations. In response, the paper introduces three guiding principles for robust adaptation research in glaciated mountain regions. Principle 1: Adaptation research should integrate detailed analyses of watershed-specific glaciological and hydro-meteorological conditions; glacio-hydrological changes are context-specific and therefore cannot be assumed to follow idealized trajectories of "peak water". Principle 2: Adaptation research should consider the complex interplay between glacio-hydrological changes and socio-economic, cultural, and political conditions; responses to environmental changes are non-deterministic and therefore not deducible from hydrological changes alone. Principle 3: Adaptation research should be attentive to interdependencies, feedbacks, and tradeoffs between human and ecological responses to glacio-hydrological change; research that does not evaluate these socio-ecological dynamics may lead to maladaptive adaptation plans. These principles call attention to the linked scientific, social, and ecological dimensions of adaptation, and offer a point of departure for future climate change adaptation research in high mountains.

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Hydrological Changes in the Arctic, the Antarctic, and the Himalaya

Ranjan¹,

Pandeyand²,

Raj³

2022

Advances in Remote Sensing Technology and the Three Poles

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Climate-related hydrological change and human vulnerability in remote mountain regions: a case study from Khumbu, Nepal

Cited by 88 publications

References 35 publications

Climate Change and Indigenous People: Perceptions of Transhumant Herders and Implications to the Transhumance System in the Himalayas

Climate Change and Indigenous People: Perceptions of Transhumant Herders and Implications to the Transhumance System in the Himalayas

Robust Adaptation Research in High Mountains: Integrating the Scientific, Social, and Ecological Dimensions of Glacio-Hydrological Change

Hydrological Changes in the Arctic, the Antarctic, and the Himalaya

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