Download or read book Himalayan Glaciers written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2012-11-29 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientific evidence shows that most glaciers in South Asia's Hindu Kush Himalayan region are retreating, but the consequences for the region's water supply are unclear, this report finds. The Hindu Kush Himalayan region is the location of several of Asia's great river systems, which provide water for drinking, irrigation, and other uses for about 1.5 billion people. Recent studies show that at lower elevations, glacial retreat is unlikely to cause significant changes in water availability over the next several decades, but other factors, including groundwater depletion and increasing human water use, could have a greater impact. Higher elevation areas could experience altered water flow in some river basins if current rates of glacial retreat continue, but shifts in the location, intensity, and variability of rain and snow due to climate change will likely have a greater impact on regional water supplies. Himalayan Glaciers: Climate Change, Water Resources, and Water Security makes recommendations and sets guidelines for the future of climate change and water security in the Himalayan Region. This report emphasizes that social changes, such as changing patterns of water use and water management decisions, are likely to have at least as much of an impact on water demand as environmental factors do on water supply. Water scarcity will likely affect the rural and urban poor most severely, as these groups have the least capacity to move to new locations as needed. It is predicted that the region will become increasingly urbanized as cities expand to absorb migrants in search of economic opportunities. As living standards and populations rise, water use will likely increase-for example, as more people have diets rich in meat, more water will be needed for agricultural use. The effects of future climate change could further exacerbate water stress. Himalayan Glaciers: Climate Change, Water Resources, and Water Security explains that changes in the availability of water resources could play an increasing role in political tensions, especially if existing water management institutions do not better account for the social, economic, and ecological complexities of the region. To effectively respond to the effects of climate change, water management systems will need to take into account the social, economic, and ecological complexities of the region. This means it will be important to expand research and monitoring programs to gather more detailed, consistent, and accurate data on demographics, water supply, demand, and scarcity.

Download or read book Darkening Peaks written by Benjamin S. Orlove and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2008-02-14 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discussing the ways that scientists have observed and modeled glaciers, this volume tells how climate change is altering their size and distribution, and looks closely at their effect on human life. Glaciers are important water and energy sources for those living in mountains and adjacent lowlands, as well as increase the hazards of flooding and landslides. In addition to investigating these issues and considering an array of possible responses, the contributors assess the cultural and spiritual impact of glacier retreat in this timely, comprehensive work on one of the most urgent and conspicuous consequences of global warming.

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Snow Ice and Glaciers written by Vijay P. Singh and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-06-29 with total page 1301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The earth’s cryosphere, which includes snow, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, ice shelves, sea ice, river and lake ice, and permafrost, contains about 75% of the earth’s fresh water. It exists at almost all latitudes, from the tropics to the poles, and plays a vital role in controlling the global climate system. It also provides direct visible evidence of the effect of climate change, and, therefore, requires proper understanding of its complex dynamics. This encyclopedia mainly focuses on the various aspects of snow, ice and glaciers, but also covers other cryospheric branches, and provides up-to-date information and basic concepts on relevant topics. It includes alphabetically arranged and professionally written, comprehensive and authoritative academic articles by well-known international experts in individual fields. The encyclopedia contains a broad spectrum of topics, ranging from the atmospheric processes responsible for snow formation; transformation of snow to ice and changes in their properties; classification of ice and glaciers and their worldwide distribution; glaciation and ice ages; glacier dynamics; glacier surface and subsurface characteristics; geomorphic processes and landscape formation; hydrology and sedimentary systems; permafrost degradation; hazards caused by cryospheric changes; and trends of glacier retreat on the global scale along with the impact of climate change. This book can serve as a source of reference at the undergraduate and graduate level and help to better understand snow, ice and glaciers. It will also be an indispensable tool containing specialized literature for geologists, geographers, climatologists, hydrologists, and water resources engineers; as well as for those who are engaged in the practice of agricultural and civil engineering, earth sciences, environmental sciences and engineering, ecosystem management, and other relevant subjects.

Download or read book Climate Change and Glacial Retreat written by Muhammad Iqbal Khan and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Global Warming Cycles written by Julie Kerr Casper and published by Infobase Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focuses on the mechanisms that caused past climate changes, putting the Earth repeatedly into and out of ice ages.

Download or read book Climate Driven Retreat of Mount Baker Glaciers and Changing Water Resources written by Mauri Pelto and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-11-02 with total page 115 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents the impact of climate change on Mount Baker glaciers, USA, and the rivers surrounding them. Glaciers are natural reservoirs that yield their resource primarily on warm dry summer days when other sources are at their lowest yield. This natural tempering of drought conditions will be reduced as they retreat. Mount Baker, a volcano in the Cascades of Washington, is currently host to 12 principal glaciers with an area of 36.8 km2. The glaciers yield 125 million cubic meters of water each summer that is a resource for salmon, irrigation and hydropower to the Nooksack River and Baker River watersheds. Recent rapid retreat of all 22 glaciers is altering the runoff from the glaciers, impacting both the discharge and temperature of the Nooksack and Baker River. Over the last 30 years we have spent 270 nights camped on the mountain conducting 10,500 observations of snow depth and melt rate on Mount Baker. This data combined with observations of terminus change, area change and glacier runoff over the same 30 years allow an unusually comprehensive story to be told of the effects of climate change to Mount Baker Glaciers and the rivers that drain them.

Download or read book The Andean glacier and water atlas written by Johansen, Kari Synnove and published by UNESCO Publishing. This book was released on 2018-11-05 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Atlas illustrates the significant reduction in glacier mass happening throughout the Andean region. It quantifies the contribution of glaciers to drinking water supplies in cities and to agriculture, hydropower and industries. A reduction in glacier mass results in a long-term reduction in seasonal melt water - which is the mainstay of livelihoods for millions of people.

Download or read book In the Shadow of Melting Glaciers written by Mark Carey and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-04-07 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change is producing profound changes globally. Yet we still know little about how it affects real people in real places on a daily basis because most of our knowledge comes from scientific studies that try to estimate impacts and project future climate scenarios. This book is different, illustrating in vivid detail how people in the Andes have grappled with the effects of climate change and ensuing natural disasters for more than half a century. In Peru's Cordillera Blanca mountain range, global climate change has generated the world's most deadly glacial lake outburst floods and glacier avalanches, killing 25,000 people since 1941. As survivors grieved, they formed community organizations to learn about precarious glacial lakes while they sent priests to the mountains, hoping that God could calm the increasingly hostile landscape. Meanwhile, Peruvian engineers working with miniscule budgets invented innovative strategies to drain dozens of the most unstable lakes that continue forming in the twenty first century. But adaptation to global climate change was never simply about engineering the Andes to eliminate environmental hazards. Local urban and rural populations, engineers, hydroelectric developers, irrigators, mountaineers, and policymakers all perceived and responded to glacier melting differently-based on their own view of an ideal Andean world. Disaster prevention projects involved debates about economic development, state authority, race relations, class divisions, cultural values, the evolution of science and technology, and shifting views of nature. Over time, the influx of new groups to manage the Andes helped transform glaciated mountains into commodities to consume. Locals lost power in the process and today comprise just one among many stakeholders in the high Andes-and perhaps the least powerful. Climate change transformed a region, triggering catastrophes while simultaneously jumpstarting modernization processes. This book's historical perspective illuminates these trends that would be ignored in any scientific projections about future climate scenarios.

Download or read book The Playground of Europe written by Leslie Stephen and published by . This book was released on 1909 with total page 534 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Tropical Glaciers written by Georg Kaser and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Glaciers in the tropics and their environmental consequences.

Download or read book Glaciers and Climate Change written by J. Oerlemans and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2001-01-01 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text brings together meteorology and the theory of glacier flow, providing a fundamental understanding of how glaciers respond to climate change. Attention is paid to the microclimate of glaciers and the physical processes regulating the exchange of energy and mass between glacier surface and atmosphere. Simple analytical and numerical models are used to: · investigate glaciers sensitivity to climate change · estimate response times · make an interpretation of historical glacier records · assess the contribution of glacier melt to sea-level rise Modern developments in glacier research, including satellite measurements are discussed in detail, making this a valuable reference source.

Download or read book Environmental ScienceBites written by Kylienne A. Clark and published by The Ohio State University. This book was released on 2015-09-15 with total page 594 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book was written by undergraduate students at The Ohio State University (OSU) who were enrolled in the class Introduction to Environmental Science. The chapters describe some of Earth's major environmental challenges and discuss ways that humans are using cutting-edge science and engineering to provide sustainable solutions to these problems. Topics are as diverse as the students, who represent virtually every department, school and college at OSU. The environmental issue that is described in each chapter is particularly important to the author, who hopes that their story will serve as inspiration to protect Earth for all life.

Download or read book Vanishing Ice written by Vivien Gornitz and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2019-06-11 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Arctic is thawing. In summer, cruise ships sail through the once ice-clogged Northwest Passage, lakes form on top of the Greenland Ice Sheet, and polar bears swim farther and farther in search of waning ice floes. At the opposite end of the world, floating Antarctic ice shelves are shrinking. Mountain glaciers are in retreat worldwide, unleashing flash floods and avalanches. We are on thin ice—and with melting permafrost’s potential to let loose still more greenhouse gases, these changes may be just the beginning. Vanishing Ice is a powerful depiction of the dramatic transformation of the cryosphere—the world of ice and snow—and its consequences for the human world. Delving into the major components of the cryosphere, including ice sheets, valley glaciers, permafrost, and floating ice, Vivien Gornitz gives an up-to-date explanation of key current trends in the decline of ice mass. Drawing on a long-term perspective gained by examining changes in the cryosphere and corresponding variations in sea level over millions of years, she demonstrates the link between thawing ice and sea-level rise to point to the social and economic challenges on the horizon. Gornitz highlights the widespread repercussions of ice loss, which will affect countless people far removed from frozen regions, to explain why the big meltdown matters to us all. Written for all readers and students interested in the science of our changing climate, Vanishing Ice is an accessible and lucid warning of the coming thaw.

Download or read book Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World Asia U S Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386 F written by U.S. Geological Survey and published by . This book was released on 2012-11-01 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Emotional Evidence of Change Highlanders Experiences with Glacial Retreat in Peru written by Kara Brooke Chipiwalt and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 133 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Global climate change is a phenomenon studied by some, but experienced by many. Communities in various places across the globe live with the physical and social effects of that phenomenon each day, with the most highly vulnerable residing in developing countries, especially those in mountainous environments. Much like a keystone species, glaciers are largely depended upon at global and local scales. They offer climate data from core samples, influence sea level, serve as a water resource for individuals, communities, and agriculture, provide spaces for recreational activities and cultural practices, as well as influence religion and beliefs. Because of this, they are widely representative for showcasing the effects of climate change. There is ample evidence within the physical sciences backing the occurrence of changes in mountain environments, with less evidence present in the human dimensions, and particularly less on how it affects individuals who reside in these spaces on an emotional level. An emotional geography lens unveils the need for a deeper understanding of the individualistic ties humans have to people, places, and spaces, while a feminist political ecology lens helps illuminate the gendered capabilities and needs to adapt to a changing climate. This paper draws on a case study conducted using qualitative methods from communities in the Peruvian Andes as evidence of the need to address emotional welfare. This study utilizes the frameworks of feminist political ecology and emotional geography to understand the various challenges to adapting to climate change in a mountain environment.

Download or read book Global Glacier Changes written by Michael Zemp and published by UNEP/Earthprint. This book was released on 2008 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication is about the world's surface ice on land outside the two polar ice sheets. It provides a sound and well illustrated review on the basis of available data, the global distribution of glaciers and ice caps and their changes since maximum extents of the so-called Little ice Age. The work also presents the latest state of knowledge on glacier changes and discusses the challenges of the 21st century for the monitoring of glaciers and ice caps.

Download or read book The Big Thaw written by Ezra B. W. Zubrow and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2019-09-01 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the unprecedented and rapid climate changes occurring in the Arctic environment. Climate change, one of the drivers of global change, is controversial in political circles, but recognized in scientific ones as being of central importance today for the United States and the world. In The Big Thaw, the editors bring together experts, advocates, and academic professionals who address the serious issue of how climate change in the Circumpolar Arctic is affecting and will continue to affect environments, cultures, societies, and economies throughout the world. The contributors discuss a variety of topics, including anthropology, sociology, human geography, community economics, regional development and planning, and political science, as well as biogeophysical sciences such as ecology, human-environmental interactions, and climatology. “This book offers a valuable compendium on a broad spectrum of issues associated with climate change, its implications, and human adaptation in the Arctic.” — Andrey N. Petrov, coauthor of Arctic Sustainability Research: Past, Present, and Future