Himalayan glaciers : What they are up to ?

Séminaire de F. Azam, le Jeudi 23 Mai 2019 à 10h en salle Lliboutry, bât. Glaciologie

Himalayan glaciers : What they are up to ?

Séminaire de Mohd Farooq Azam, Indian Institute of Technology Indore (MP)

Abstract :
Understanding responses of the Himalaya–Karakoram (HK) glaciers to changing climate is crucial for over 900 million people who partly depend on meltwater in HK river basins. A comprehensive review of the status and changes in length, area and mass of glaciers as well as river hydrology along the HK region is done under the climate change context. Glaciological mass balances agree better with remotely sensed balances when an objective, systematic exclusion of likely flawed mass-balance series is made. The Himalayan mean glaciological mass budget was similar to the global average until 2000, and likely less negative after 2000. Geodetic measurements indicate nearly balanced mass budgets for Karakoram glaciers since the 1970s. Himalayan glaciers seem to be sensitive to precipitation partly through the albedo feedback on the short-wave radiation balance. Glacier and snow melt contribute significantly to the HK rivers with far greater hydrological impact in the Indus basin compared to the Ganges and Brahmaputra basins. Nevertheless, from study to study, the estimated contributions of different runoff components to total river runoff vary largely for the same catchments. Long term cryospheric monitoring is required to fill these gaps and to project future runoff evolution at better confidence levels.