Do the western Himalayas defy global warming?

Yadav, Ram R.; Park, Won-Kyu; Singh, Jayendra; Dubey, Bhasha

doi:10.1029/2004gl020201

Cited by 199 publications

(126 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(38 reference statements)

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“…For instance, Lhasa, the capital of the TAR, has grown by 2400% in the last 50 years (Du et al 2004). The human population in the western Himalayan states has increased around three times during the second half of the 20th century (Yadav et al 2004). As a result of growing population, agriculture has been expanded.…”

Section: Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The temperature variation on the TP has different sub-regional regimes (Yin et al 2000). Temperature is found cooling in the western Himalayas in pre-monsoon season during the later part of the 20th century from observational records and from reconstructions using tree rings (Yadav et al 2004). Surface temperature changes on the TP will greatly influence the dates of thaw processes and permafrost conditions and therefore impact vegetation growth and hydrology.…”

Section: Surface Temperaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Recent land cover changes on the Tibetan Plateau: a review

2009

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This paper reviews the land cover changes on the Tibetan Plateau during the last 50 years partly caused by natural climate change and, more importantly, influenced by human activities. Recent warming trends on the plateau directly influence the permafrost and snow melting and will impact on the local ecosystem greatly. Human activities increased rapidly on the plateau during the last half century and have significant impacts on land use. Significant land cover changes on the Tibetan Plateau include permafrost and grassland degradation, urbanization, deforestation and desertification. These changes not only impact on local climate and environment, but also have important hydrological implications for the rivers which originate from the plateau. The most noticeable disasters include the flooding at the upper reaches of Yangtze River and droughts along the middle and lower reaches of Yellow River. Future possible land cover changes under future global climate warming are important but hard to assess due to the deficits of global climate model in this topographically complex area. Integrated investigation of climate and ecosystems, including human-beings, are highly recommended for future studies.

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Section: Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Surface Temperaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Recent land cover changes on the Tibetan Plateau: a review

2009

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“…This study area ( Figure 1 and Figure 2) deserves a special attention. The occurrence of global warming in the Western Himalaya is still under debate (Yadav et al, 2004;Roy and Balling, 2005) and glacier retreat seems to be limited (Kargel et al, 2005). Furthermore, the mass balance of one benchmark glacier, Chhota Shigri (Kumar and Dobhal, 1997), has been measured on the field since 2002 (Wagnon et al, in preparation) and can be used for comparison.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Monitoring their evolution is a key issue as the melting of all glaciers in central Asia may significantly contribute to ongoing sea level rise (Kaser et al, 2006). Changes in glacier length, areal extent or mass balance can also be used as climate indicators in a region where climatic series (temperature, precipitation) are rare and the climate change signal is not clear (Yadav et al, 2004 ;Roy and Balling, 2005). In addition, runoff generated by the melting of these glaciers is an important source of water for the people living in the Himalayan valleys (WWF, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remote sensing estimates of glacier mass balances in the Himachal Pradesh (Western Himalaya, India)

Berthier¹,

Arnaud

Kumar

et al. 2007

Remote Sensing of Environment

495

350

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Although they correspond to an important fraction of the total area of mountain glaciers (33000 km 2 out of 546000 km 2 ), Himalayan glaciers and their mass balance are poorly sampled. For example, between 1977 and1999, the average area surveyed each year on the field was 6.8 km 2 only. No direct mass balance measurement is available after 1999. To contribute to fill this gap, we use remote sensing data to monitor glacier elevation changes and mass balances in the Spiti/Lahaul region (32.2°N, 77.6°E, Himachal Pradesh, Western Himalaya, India). The 2004 DEM is derived from two SPOT5 satellite optical images without any ground control points. This is achieved thanks to the good on-board geolocation of SPOT5 scenes and using SRTM elevations as a reference on the ice-free zones. Before comparison on glaciers, the two DEMs are analyzed on the stable areas surrounding the glaciers where no elevation change is expected. Two different biases are detected. A long wavelength bias affects the SPOT5 DEM and is correlated to an anomaly in the roll of the SPOT5 satellite. A bias is also observed as a function of altitude and is attributed to the SRTM dataset. Both biases are modeled and removed to permit unbiased comparison of the two DEM on the 915 km 2 ice-covered area digitized from an ASTER image.On most glaciers, a clear thinning is measured at low elevations, even on debris-covered tongues. Between 1999 and 2004, we obtain an overall specific mass balance of -0.7 to -0.85 m/a (water equivalent) depending on the density we use for the lost (or gained) material in the accumulation zone. This rate of ice loss is twice higher than the long-term (1977 to 1999) mass balance record for Himalaya indicating an increase in the pace of glacier wastage. To assess whether these ice losses are size-dependant, all glaciers were classified into three samples according to their areal extent. All three samples show ice loss, the loss being higher for glaciers larger than 30 km 2 . In the case of the benchmark Chhota Shigri glacier, a good agreement is found between our satellite observations and the mass balances measured on the field during hydrological years 2002-2003 and 2003-2004. Future studies using a similar methodology could determine whether similar ice losses have occurred in other parts of the Himalaya and may allow evaluation of the contribution of this mountain range to ongoing sea level rise.

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“…Glaciers were selected as Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) as they provide some of the clearest evidence of climate change and constitute key variables for early-detection strategies in global climate-related observations (GCOS, 2004). Investigations of glaciers are therefore especially important in regions with sparse climatic records or those where is still under debate whether climate change is occurring or not, such as the western Himalaya (Roy & Balling, 2005;Yadav et al, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compilation of a glacier inventory for the western Himalayas from satellite data: methods, challenges, and results

Frey

Paul

Strozzi

2012

Remote Sensing of Environment

203

150

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Due to their sensitive reaction to changes in climatic conditions, glaciers have been selected as an essential climate variable (ECV). Although a large amount of ice is located in the Himalayas, this region is yet only sparsely represented in global glacier databases. Accordingly, a sound and comprehensive change assessment or determination of water resources was not yet possible. In this study, we present a new glacier inventory for the western Himalayas, compiled from Landsat ETM+ scenes acquired between 2000 and 2002, coherence images from ALOS PALSAR image pairs, the SRTM digital elevation model (DEM) and the ASTER Global DEM (GDEM). Several specific challenges for glacier mapping were found in this region and addressed. They are related to debris cover, orographic clouds, locally variable snow conditions, and creeping permafrost features in cold-dry regions. Additional to seven topographic parameters that are obtained from the ASTER GDEM for each glacier, we also determined the relative amount of debris cover on the glacier surface. The inventory contains 11,400 glaciers larger than 0.02 km2, which cover a total area of 9,310 km2. Analysis of the inventory data revealed characteristic patterns of mean glacier elevation and relative debris cover amounts that might be related to the governing climatic conditions. The full dataset will be freely available in the GLIMS glacier database to foster further analyses and modeling of the glaciers in this region. AbstractDue to their sensitive reaction to changes in climatic conditions, glaciers have been selected as an essential climate variable (ECV). Although a large amount of ice is located in the Himalayas, this region is yet only sparsely represented in global glacier databases. Accordingly, a sound and comprehensive change assessment or determination of water resources was not yet possible. In this study, we present a new glacier inventory for the western Himalayas, compiled from Landsat ETM+ scenes acquired between 2000 and 2002, coherence images from ALOS PALSAR image pairs, the SRTM digital elevation model (DEM) and the ASTER Global DEM (GDEM). Several specific challenges for glacier mapping were found in this region and addressed. They are related to debris cover, orographic clouds, locally variable snow conditions, and creeping permafrost features in cold-dry regions. Additional to seven topographic parameters that are obtained from the ASTER GDEM for each glacier, we also determined the relative amount of debris cover on the glacier surface. The inventory contains 11,400 glaciers larger than 0.02 km 2 , which cover a total area of 9,310 km 2 . Analysis of the inventory data revealed characteristic patterns of mean glacier elevation and relative debris cover amounts that might be related to the governing climatic conditions. The full dataset will be freely available in the GLIMS glacier database to foster further analyses and modeling of the glaciers in this region.

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Do the western Himalayas defy global warming?

Cited by 199 publications

References 23 publications

Recent land cover changes on the Tibetan Plateau: a review

Recent land cover changes on the Tibetan Plateau: a review

Remote sensing estimates of glacier mass balances in the Himachal Pradesh (Western Himalaya, India)

Compilation of a glacier inventory for the western Himalayas from satellite data: methods, challenges, and results

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