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

• 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; permafrost; The Cryosphere
• 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

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.