Knowledge priorities on climate change and water in the Upper Indus Basin : a horizon scanning exercise to identify the top 100 research questions in social and natural sciences

• Published in: Earth's Future
• Main Authors: Orr, Andrew, Ahmad, Bashir, Alam, Undala, Appadurai, ArivudaiNambi, Bharucha, Zareen P., Biemans, Hester, Bolch, Tobias, Chaulagain, Narayan P., Dhaubanjar, Sanita, Dimri, A. P., Dixon, Harry, Fowler, Hayley, Gioli, Giovanna, Halvorson, Sarah J., Hussain, Abid, Jeelani, Ghulam, Kamal, Simi, Khalid, Imran, Liu, Shiyin, Lutz, Arthur, Mehra, Meeta K., Miles, Evan, Momblanch, Andrea, Muccione, Veruska, Mukherji, Aditi, Mustafa, Daanish, Najmuddin, Omaid, Nasimi, Mohammad N., Nüsser, Marcus, Pandey, Vishnu P., Parveen, Sitara, Pellicciotti, Francesca, Pollino, Carmel, Potter, Emily, Qazizada, Mohammad R., Ray, Saon, Romshoo, Shakil, Sarkar, Syamal K., Sawas, Amiera, Sen, Sumit, Shah, Attaullah, Shah, Azeem, Shea, Joseph M., Sheikh, Ali T., Shrestha, Arun B., Tayal, Shresth, Tigala, Snehlata, Virk, Zeeshan T., Wester, Philippus, Wescoat, James
• Other Authors: University of St Andrews. School of Geography & Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews. Bell-Edwards Geographic Data Institute, University of St Andrews. Environmental Change Research Group
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Upper Indus Basin; Horizon Scan; Climate Change; Water; Priority Questions; Knowledge Gaps; GE Environmental Sciences; T-DAS; SDG 13 - Climate Action; GE; Norway; glacier
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/25202; https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EF002619

This study was partially supported by core funds of ICIMOD contributed by the governments of Afghanistan, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Norway, Pakistan, Sweden, and Switzerland. AO was supported by funding from the National Environmental Research Council (NERC) National Capability Overseas Development Assistance under the grant ‘Polar expertise –Supporting development’ (NE/R000107/1). River systems originating from the Upper Indus Basin (UIB) are dominated by runoff from snow and glacier melt and summer monsoonal rainfall. These water resources are highly stressed as huge populations of people living in this region depend on them, including for agriculture, domestic use, and energy production. Projections suggest that the UIB region will be affected by considerable (yet poorly quantified) changes to the seasonality and composition of runoff in the future, which are likely to have considerable impacts on these supplies. Given how directly and indirectly communities and ecosystems are dependent on these resources and the growing pressure on them due to ever-increasing demands, the impacts of climate change pose considerable adaptation challenges. The strong linkages between hydroclimate, cryosphere, water resources, and human activities within the UIB suggest that a multi- and inter-disciplinary research approach integrating the social and natural/environmental sciences is critical for successful adaptation to ongoing and future hydrological and climate change. Here we use a horizon scanning technique to identify the Top 100 questions related to the most pressing knowledge gaps and research priorities in social and natural sciences on climate change and water in the UIB. These questions are on the margins of current thinking and investigation and are clustered into 14 themes, covering three overarching topics of 'governance, policy, and sustainable solutions', 'socioeconomic processes and livelihoods', and 'integrated Earth System processes'. Raising awareness of these ...