How resilient are waterways of the Asian Himalayas? Finding adaptive measures for future sustainability
Abstract The high‐mountain system, a storehouse of major waterways that support important ecosystem services to about 1.5 billion people in the Himalaya, is facing unprecedented challenges due to climate change during the 21st century. Intensified floods, accelerating glacial retreat, rapid permafro...
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crwiley:10.1002/wat2.1677 2024-06-02T08:13:06+00:00 How resilient are waterways of the Asian Himalayas? Finding adaptive measures for future sustainability Kattel, Giri R. Paszkowski, Amelie Pokhrel, Yadu Wu, Wenyan Li, Dongfeng Rao, Mukund P. Australian Research Council Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology National Science Foundation 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1677 https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/wat2.1677 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ WIREs Water volume 10, issue 6 ISSN 2049-1948 2049-1948 journal-article 2023 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1677 2024-05-03T11:23:49Z Abstract The high‐mountain system, a storehouse of major waterways that support important ecosystem services to about 1.5 billion people in the Himalaya, is facing unprecedented challenges due to climate change during the 21st century. Intensified floods, accelerating glacial retreat, rapid permafrost degradation, and prolonged droughts are altering the natural hydrological balances and generating unpredictable spatial and temporal distributions of water availability. Anthropogenic activities are adding further pressure onto Himalayan waterways. The fundamental question of waterway management in this region is therefore how this hydro‐meteorological transformation, caused by climate change and anthropogenic perturbations, can be tackled to find avenues for sustainability. This requires a framework that can diagnose threats at a range of spatial and temporal scales and provide recommendations for strong adaptive measures for sustainable future waterways. This focus paper assesses the current literature base to bring together our understanding of how recent climatic changes have threatened waterways in the Asian Himalayas, how society has been responding to rapidly changing waterway conditions, and what adaptive options are available for the region. The study finds that Himalayan waterways are crucial in protecting nature and society. The implementation of integrated waterways management measures, the rapid advancement of waterway infrastructure technologies, and the improved governance of waterways are more critical than ever. This article is categorized under: Engineering Water > Sustainable Engineering of Water Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost Wiley Online Library WIREs Water 10 6 |
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English |
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Abstract The high‐mountain system, a storehouse of major waterways that support important ecosystem services to about 1.5 billion people in the Himalaya, is facing unprecedented challenges due to climate change during the 21st century. Intensified floods, accelerating glacial retreat, rapid permafrost degradation, and prolonged droughts are altering the natural hydrological balances and generating unpredictable spatial and temporal distributions of water availability. Anthropogenic activities are adding further pressure onto Himalayan waterways. The fundamental question of waterway management in this region is therefore how this hydro‐meteorological transformation, caused by climate change and anthropogenic perturbations, can be tackled to find avenues for sustainability. This requires a framework that can diagnose threats at a range of spatial and temporal scales and provide recommendations for strong adaptive measures for sustainable future waterways. This focus paper assesses the current literature base to bring together our understanding of how recent climatic changes have threatened waterways in the Asian Himalayas, how society has been responding to rapidly changing waterway conditions, and what adaptive options are available for the region. The study finds that Himalayan waterways are crucial in protecting nature and society. The implementation of integrated waterways management measures, the rapid advancement of waterway infrastructure technologies, and the improved governance of waterways are more critical than ever. This article is categorized under: Engineering Water > Sustainable Engineering of Water |
author2 |
Australian Research Council Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology National Science Foundation |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kattel, Giri R. Paszkowski, Amelie Pokhrel, Yadu Wu, Wenyan Li, Dongfeng Rao, Mukund P. |
spellingShingle |
Kattel, Giri R. Paszkowski, Amelie Pokhrel, Yadu Wu, Wenyan Li, Dongfeng Rao, Mukund P. How resilient are waterways of the Asian Himalayas? Finding adaptive measures for future sustainability |
author_facet |
Kattel, Giri R. Paszkowski, Amelie Pokhrel, Yadu Wu, Wenyan Li, Dongfeng Rao, Mukund P. |
author_sort |
Kattel, Giri R. |
title |
How resilient are waterways of the Asian Himalayas? Finding adaptive measures for future sustainability |
title_short |
How resilient are waterways of the Asian Himalayas? Finding adaptive measures for future sustainability |
title_full |
How resilient are waterways of the Asian Himalayas? Finding adaptive measures for future sustainability |
title_fullStr |
How resilient are waterways of the Asian Himalayas? Finding adaptive measures for future sustainability |
title_full_unstemmed |
How resilient are waterways of the Asian Himalayas? Finding adaptive measures for future sustainability |
title_sort |
how resilient are waterways of the asian himalayas? finding adaptive measures for future sustainability |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1677 https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/wat2.1677 |
genre |
permafrost |
genre_facet |
permafrost |
op_source |
WIREs Water volume 10, issue 6 ISSN 2049-1948 2049-1948 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1677 |
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WIREs Water |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
6 |
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1800759766107029504 |