Status and change of the cryosphere in the extended Hindu Kush Himalaya region

The cryosphere is defined by the presence of frozen water in its many forms: glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, snow, permafrost, and river and lake ice. In the extended Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region, including the Pamirs, Tien Shan and Alatua, the cryosphere is a key freshwater resource, playing a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bolch, Tobias, Shea, Joseph M., Liu, Shiyin, Azam, Farooq M., Gao, Yang, Gruber, Stephan, Immerzeel, Walter W., Kulkarni, Anil, Li, Huilin, Tahir, Adnan A., Zhang, Guoqing, Zhang, Yinsheng
Other Authors: Wester, Philippus, Mishra, Arabinda, Mukherji, Aditi, Shrestha, Arun Bhakta
Format: Book Part
Language:English
Published: Springer 2019
Subjects:
Ice
Online Access:https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/status-and-change-of-the-cryosphere-in-the-extended-hindu-kush-himalaya-region(65194c69-277a-4ed4-b202-91bc1af4282c).html
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92288-1_7
https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/17268/1/Bolch_2019_TheHinduKushHimalayaAssessment_Chap7_CCBY_VoR.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92288-1
Description
Summary:The cryosphere is defined by the presence of frozen water in its many forms: glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, snow, permafrost, and river and lake ice. In the extended Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region, including the Pamirs, Tien Shan and Alatua, the cryosphere is a key freshwater resource, playing a vital and significant role in local and regional hydrology and ecology. Industry, agriculture, and hydroelectric power generation rely on timely and sufficient delivery of water in major river systems; changes in the cryospheric system may thus pose challenges for disaster risk reduction in the extended HKH region.