Recession of Indonesia’s tropical glaciers; implications?

• Main Author: McCallum, A B
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: University of the Sunshine Coast 2012
• Subjects: FoR 0406 (Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience); tropical glaciers; climate change; Indonesia; Arctic; Jaya; Climate change
• Online Access: http://www.usc.edu.au/research/university-research-week

Climate change is influencing many components of the earth’s natural systems, yet perhaps none more so than the cryosphere. Whilst the Arctic has long been regarded as the ‘canary’ of climate change, other ice masses are also experiencing change. Low-latitudinal tropical glaciers in Africa, the Andes, the Himalaya and Papua are receding at unprecedented rates with serious implications for local inhabitants. Glaciological fieldwork in the vicinity of the Puncak Jaya massif, Papua, will attempt to address the following: What is the thickness and thus mass and water volume of the ice masses in the vicinity of Puncak Jaya, and what is their past and forecast temporal variability; what are the implications on the local hydrological system and thus the water supply for local inhabitants should glacial recession and eventual extinction occur in the region, and what effect might such recession have on the establishment of glacial hazards within the region? A brief outline of the envisaged research and its global context is presented.