The Status of Glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region by Samjwal R. Bajracharya, Basanta Shrestha ISBN 9789291152179, 9789291152155, 929115217X, 9291152153 instant download

The Status of Glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region by Samjwal R. Bajracharya, Basanta Shrestha ISBN 9789291152179, 9789291152155, 929115217X, 9291152153 instant download

The Hindu Kush-Himalayan region encompasses more than 4 million square kilometres of hills and mountains in the eight countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. The vast expanse of snow and ice gives it the name ‘water tower of Asia’. The meltwater from snow and ice feeds ten large river systems: the Amu Darya, Brahmaputra, Ganges, Indus, Irrawaddy, Mekong, Salween, Tarim, Yangtze, and Yellow Rivers. The river basins cover an area of about 9 million square kilometres of which 2.8 million square kilometres lie within the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region. The inventory identifies 54,000 glaciers, clean-ice and debris-covered, with a total area of 60,000 km2 and estimated 6,000 km3 of ice reserves, within the ten river basins and large interior basin of HKH region.
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The cryosphere of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region plays a significant role in the regional climatic system, and is alsoa sensitive indicator of global climate change. Climate change is a major driver affecting the cryospheric environment, threatening the freshwater reserves and posing increased risks from climate-induced hazards to the mountain region andits immediate downstream communities. However, there is a marked lack of consistent, detailed, and long-term information for the region, and in particular for glacier and snow cover. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) fourth assessment report shows that the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region comprises a major data gap in terms of any climatic assessment.
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We believe that this study represents a significant step towards bridging the data and information gap on the glaciers of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region. It is the first report to cover the entire region from a single consistent source.