Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Disasters and Integrated Risk Management in China

Wang, Shijin; Zhou, Lihua

doi:10.1007/s13753-017-0152-7

Cited by 23 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 12 publications

(9 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The case studies on cryosphere disservices and related socioeconomic vulnerability assessments and risk management strategies focus mainly on short-term events (Cuellar and McKinney 2017;Khanal et al 2015;Wang and Zhou 2017). Cryosphere disservices, however, are often part of complex cascading disasters (Pescaroli and Alexander 2015), and they impact communities at different temporal and spatial scales.…”

Section: Disservices: Cryosphere-related Disastersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contributions of the cryosphere to mountain communities in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: a review

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is a growing recognition of the contribution of the cryosphere to human societies. This is especially important in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), where poverty and vulnerability are high and climate change impacts on the cryosphere are strong. However, there is a lack of synthesized knowledge about the contributions of the cryosphere to high mountain communities. This paper uses a cryosphere service framework-a derivative of the ecosystem service concept-to classify different goods and services provided by the cryosphere. Case studies were selected using an adapted systematic review methodology. These studies were then synthesized and examined through the lens of critical political ecology. The review shows that while the cryosphere provides a whole range of goods and services for mountain communities, not all of these are well documented. Material services like the supply of water for irrigation and agriculture, and disservices such as disasters, are better documented than non-material services like the spirituality of landscapes. The majority of the case studies do not use an interdisciplinary lens. While some studies on irrigation discuss the physical basis and human organization of irrigation, the literature on disasters mostly focuses on the physical processes and at most generalized loss and damage assessments. Further, most case studies do not use the critical epistemologies needed to examine how politics, power, and intersectionality influence societal responses to changes in the cryosphere. The paper suggests that future studies adopt interdisciplinary collaboration to understand human impacts and adaptive responses through critical political ecology frameworks.

show abstract

Section: Disservices: Cryosphere-related Disastersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contributions of the cryosphere to mountain communities in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: a review

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In contrast to the number and size of glacier lakes, trends in the number of glacier-related floods are not well known for recent decades [14,15], although a number of phases of increased and decreased flood activity have been documented for individual glaciers in North America and Greenland [16,17]. Glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs) occur in various mountain regions in the world, including the Himalayas [18][19][20][21][22], Tien Shan [23][24][25][26], the Andes [27][28][29], the Alps [30], North American Cordillera [31] and the Caucasus [32][33][34][35][36]. An increasing GLOF activity in the catchments with large glaciers is projected for the end of the 21st century [37].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling of Extreme Hydrological Events in the Baksan River Basin, the Central Caucasus, Russia

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

High mountain areas are prone to extreme hydrological events, and their study is especially important in the context of ongoing intensive deglaciation. In this research, a model “chain” consisting of a hydrodynamic model and a runoff formation model is adopted to simulate a glacier lake outburst flood (GLOF) from Bashkara Lake (the Central Caucasus, Russia) and its effect on downstream. In addition to an actual GLOF event that occurred on 1 September 2017 and led to casualties and significant destruction in the Adylsu and Baksan Rivers valleys, possible scenarios for the re-outburst of the lake are considered. The hydrographs of the outburst and the downstream movement of the flood wave along the Adylsu River valley are estimated using STREAM_2D two-dimensional hydrodynamic model. The water discharges in the entire river network of the Baksan River are assessed using the ECOMAG (ECOlogical Model for Applied Geophysics) runoff formation model. The output flood hydrograph from the hydrodynamic model is set as additional input into the Baksan River runoff formation model in the upper reaches of the Adylsu River. As a result of the simulations, estimates for the contribution of GLOFs and precipitation to an increase in peak discharge along the Baksan River were obtained. The actual outburst flood contributed 45% and precipitation 30% to the peak flow in the Baksan River at the mouth of the Adylsu River (10 km from the outburst site). In Tyrnyauz (40 km from the outburst site), the contributions of the outburst flood and precipitation were equal and, in Zayukovo (70 km from the outburst site), the outburst flood contributed only 20% to the peak flow, whereas precipitation contributed 44%. Similar calculations were made for future potential re-outburst flood, taking into account climatic changes with an increase in air temperatures of 2 °C, an increase in precipitation of 10% in winter and a decrease of 10% in summer. The maximum discharge of the re-outburst flood in the Adylsu River mouth, according to model estimations, will be approximately three times less than the discharge of the actual outburst on 1 September 2017 and can contribute up to 18% of the peak discharge in the Baksan River at the confluence.

show abstract

“…These areas are located in the border belt and the Eurasian plates, where tectonic seismic activity is frequent and intense. Earthquakes have often compromised the stability of mountain slopes, glaciers, and moraine dams, resulting in an imbalance in the state of glacial lakes (Wang and Zhou, 2017). Another emerging hypothesis of more GLOF events is the change in the pattern of rainfall (Khan et al, 2019;Harrison et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation of glacial lake outburst flood hazard in Hunza valley of upper Indus Basin

al.¹

2021

Int. j. adv. appl. sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The UIB (Upper Indus Basin) is prone to GLOFs (Glacial Lake Outburst Floods). Physical monitoring of such a large area on a regular basis is a challenging task, especially when the temporal and spatial extent of the hazard is highly variable. The purpose of this study was to map the potentially dangerous glacial lakes and simulate the associated hazard in the downward settlements using HEC-RAS in the GIS environment using Landsat 7 remote sensing data. The study was conducted in Hunza Valley of UIB, where there are several human settlements that are endangered due to the GLOF hazard. Sudden breaches in the unstable moraine dams adjoining receding glaciers may occur because of the rapid and huge accumulation of turbulent water in the glacial lakes. The ASTER GDEM (Digital Elevation Model) is utilized to detect flow accumulation of glacial hazard involving slope, elevation, and orientation of the mountain glaciers. The study results revealed that settlements of Hunza Valley are threatened by the GLOFs hazard. Keeping in view the seasonal growth of the potentially dangerous glacial lakes of Hunza Valley, a low discharge of 3500m 3 /s from a potentially dangerous glacial lake can affect 40%, whereas a moderate discharge of 5000m 3 /s can affect 60%, and a high discharge of 7000m 3 /s can affect 80% of the Shimshal village habitat. The results of the study can provide a platform for the establishment of an early warning and monitoring system to minimize the impact of future GLOFs. Accurate and comprehensive knowledge of potentially dangerous GLOFs is of utmost importance for risk management. A digital repository of GLOFs can enhance the ability to inform policymakers on the vulnerability, risk mitigation, and action/adaptation measures.

show abstract

Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Disasters and Integrated Risk Management in China

Cited by 23 publications

References 12 publications

Contributions of the cryosphere to mountain communities in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: a review

Contributions of the cryosphere to mountain communities in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: a review

Modeling of Extreme Hydrological Events in the Baksan River Basin, the Central Caucasus, Russia

Simulation of glacial lake outburst flood hazard in Hunza valley of upper Indus Basin

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About