An inventory of glacial lakes in the Third Pole region and their changes in response to global warming
15 Dec 2015-Vol. 2015
TL;DR: In this paper, the first glacial lake in- ventories for the Third Pole were conducted for ~1990, 2000, and 2010 using Landsat TM/ETM+ data.
Abstract: article i nfo No glacial lake census exists for the Third Pole region, which includes the Pamir-Hindu Kush-Karakoram- Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. Therefore, comprehensive information is lacking about the distribution of and changes in glacial lakes caused by current global warming conditions. In this study, the first glacial lake in- ventories for the Third Pole were conducted for ~1990, 2000, and 2010 using Landsat TM/ETM+ data. Glacial lake spatial distributions, corresponding areas and temporal changes were examined. The significant results are as follows. (1) There were 4602, 4981, and 5701 glacial lakes (N0.003 km 2 ) covering areas of 553.9 ± 90, 581.2 ± 97, and 682.4 ± 110 km 2 in ~1990, 2000, and 2010, respectively; these lakes are primarily located in the Brahmaputra (39%),Indus (28%), and AmuDarya (10%) basins. (2) Small lakes (b0.2 km 2 ) are more sensitive to climate changes. (3) Lakes closer to glaciers and at higher altitudes, particularly thoseconnected to glacier ter- mini, have undergone larger area changes. (4) Glacier-fed lakes are dominant in both quantity and area (N70%) and exhibit faster expansion trends overall compared to non-glacier-fed lakes. We conclude that glacier meltwa- ter may play a dominant role in the areal expansion of most glacial lakes in the Third Pole. In addition, the pat- terns of the glacier-fed lakes correspond well with warming temperature trends and negative glacier mass balance patterns. This paper presents an important database of glacial lakes and provides a basis for long-term monitoring and evaluation of outburst flood disasters primarily caused by glacial lakes in the Third Pole.
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01 Dec 2013
TL;DR: This paper found that the most intensive glacier shrinkage is in the Himalayan region, whereas glacial retreat in the Pamir Plateau region is less apparent, due to changes in atmospheric circulations and precipitation patterns.
Abstract: Glacial melting in the Tibetan Plateau affects the water resources of millions of people. This study finds that—partly owing to changes in atmospheric circulations and precipitation patterns—the most intensive glacier shrinkage is in the Himalayan region, whereas glacial retreat in the Pamir Plateau region is less apparent.
1,599 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined annual changes in lake area, level, and volume during 1970s-2015 and found that increased net precipitation contributes the majority of water supply for the lake volume increase, followed by glacier mass loss and ground ice melt due to permafrost degradation.
Abstract: The Tibetan Plateau (TP), the highest and largest plateau in the world, with complex and competing cryospheric‐hydrologic‐geodynamic processes, is particularly sensitive to anthropogenic warming. The quantitative water mass budget in the TP is poorly known. Here we examine annual changes in lake area, level, and volume during 1970s–2015. We find that a complex pattern of lake volume changes during 1970s–2015: a slight decrease of −2.78 Gt yr−1 during 1970s–1995, followed by a rapid increase of 12.53 Gt yr−1 during 1996–2010, and then a recent deceleration (1.46 Gt yr−1) during 2011–2015. We then estimated the recent water mass budget for the Inner TP, 2003–2009, including changes in terrestrial water storage, lake volume, glacier mass, snow water equivalent (SWE), soil moisture, and permafrost. The dominant components of water mass budget, namely, changes in lake volume (7.72 ± 0.63 Gt yr−1) and groundwater storage (5.01 ± 1.59 Gt yr−1), increased at similar rates. We find that increased net precipitation contributes the majority of water supply (74%) for the lake volume increase, followed by glacier mass loss (13%), and ground ice melt due to permafrost degradation (12%). Other term such as SWE (1%) makes a relatively small contribution. These results suggest that the hydrologic cycle in the TP has intensified remarkably during recent decades.
289 citations
Cites background from "An inventory of glacial lakes in th..."
...and 5000 small glacial lakes in the Himalayas [Zhang et al., 2015]....
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...However, there are more than 1200 lakes (>1 km2) in the TP, mainly in the Inner TP [Zhang et al., 2014], and 5000 small glacial lakes in the Himalayas [Zhang et al., 2015]....
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...The estimated mass is shown in Figure S4b, where positive mass anomalies appear in the inner TP and negative mass anomalies can be recognized in the Himalayas and northern India....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the current distribution of glacial lakes across the entire Himalaya and monitor the spatially-explicit evolution of the lakes over five time periods from 1990 to 2015 using a total of 348 Landsat images at 30-m resolution.
231 citations
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper examined multi-decadal lake area changes in China during 1960s-2015, using historical topographic maps and >3831 Landsat satellite images, including lakes as fine as ≥ 1 km2 in size.
230 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of these lakes as terrestrial storage for glacial meltwater is unknown and not accounted for in global sea level assessments, and they use scaling relations to estimate that global glacier lake volume increased by around 48%, to 156.5 km3, between 1990 and 2018.
Abstract: Glacial lakes are rapidly growing in response to climate change and glacier retreat. The role of these lakes as terrestrial storage for glacial meltwater is currently unknown and not accounted for in global sea level assessments. Here, we map glacier lakes around the world using 254,795 satellite images and use scaling relations to estimate that global glacier lake volume increased by around 48%, to 156.5 km3, between 1990 and 2018. This methodology provides a near-global database and analysis of glacial lake extent, volume and change. Over the study period, lake numbers and total area increased by 53 and 51%, respectively. Median lake size has increased 3%; however, the 95th percentile has increased by around 9%. Currently, glacial lakes hold about 0.43 mm of sea level equivalent. As glaciers continue to retreat and feed glacial lakes, the implications for glacial lake outburst floods and water resources are of considerable societal and ecological importance. Warming is increasing glacial lakes, and scaling relations show a 48% increase in volume for 1990 to 2018. All measures—area, volume, number—increased, providing water storage but also representing a potential hazard with the risk of outburst floods.
219 citations
References
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South Dakota State University1, Natural Resources Canada2, United States Geological Survey3, Boston University4, University of Idaho5, United States Department of Agriculture6, Goddard Space Flight Center7, University of Colorado Boulder8, University of Massachusetts Boston9, Rochester Institute of Technology10, University of California, Los Angeles11, United States Forest Service12, Agricultural Research Service13, Humboldt University of Berlin14, Desert Research Institute15, University of Maryland, College Park16, University of Nebraska–Lincoln17, Geoscience Australia18, Virginia Tech19
TL;DR: Landsat 8, a NASA and USGS collaboration, acquires global moderate-resolution measurements of the Earth's terrestrial and polar regions in the visible, near-infrared, short wave, and thermal infrared as mentioned in this paper.
1,697 citations
01 Dec 2013
TL;DR: This paper found that the most intensive glacier shrinkage is in the Himalayan region, whereas glacial retreat in the Pamir Plateau region is less apparent, due to changes in atmospheric circulations and precipitation patterns.
Abstract: Glacial melting in the Tibetan Plateau affects the water resources of millions of people. This study finds that—partly owing to changes in atmospheric circulations and precipitation patterns—the most intensive glacier shrinkage is in the Himalayan region, whereas glacial retreat in the Pamir Plateau region is less apparent.
1,599 citations
TL;DR: The contemporary evolution of glaciers in the Himalayan region is reviewed, including those of the less well sampled region of the Karakoram to the Northwest, in order to provide a current, comprehensive picture of how they are changing.
Abstract: Himalayan glaciers are a focus of public and scientific debate. Prevailing uncertainties are of major concern because some projections of their future have serious implications for water resources. Most Himalayan glaciers are losing mass at rates similar to glaciers elsewhere, except for emerging indications of stability or mass gain in the Karakoram. A poor understanding of the processes affecting them, combined with the diversity of climatic conditions and the extremes of topographical relief within the region, makes projections speculative. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that dramatic changes in total runoff will occur soon, although continuing shrinkage outside the Karakoram will increase the seasonality of runoff, affect irrigation and hydropower, and alter hazards.
1,561 citations
Clark University1, University of Michigan2, Scripps Institution of Oceanography3, Trent University4, University of Colorado Boulder5, University of Bristol6, University of Alaska Fairbanks7, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences8, Centre national de la recherche scientifique9, Uppsala University10, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research11, University of Innsbruck12, Utrecht University13, Dresden University of Technology14, University of Zurich15, University of Alberta16, University of Oslo17
TL;DR: It is found that glaciers in the Arctic, Canada, Alaska, coastal Greenland, the southern Andes, and high-mountain Asia contribute approximately as much melt water as the ice sheets themselves: 260 billion tons per year between 2003 and 2009, accounting for about 30% of the observed sea-level rise during that period.
Abstract: Glaciers distinct from the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets are losing large amounts of water to the world's oceans. However, estimates of their contribution to sea level rise disagree. We provide a consensus estimate by standardizing existing, and creating new, mass-budget estimates from satellite gravimetry and altimetry and from local glaciological records. In many regions, local measurements are more negative than satellite-based estimates. All regions lost mass during 2003-2009, with the largest losses from Arctic Canada, Alaska, coastal Greenland, the southern Andes, and high-mountain Asia, but there was little loss from glaciers in Antarctica. Over this period, the global mass budget was -259 ± 28 gigatons per year, equivalent to the combined loss from both ice sheets and accounting for 29 ± 13% of the observed sea level rise.
1,102 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report that climate change is coming fast and furious to the Tibetan plateau, and the changes atop the roof of the world are visible from the ground floor of the World Wide Web.
Abstract: Climate change is coming fast and furious to the Tibetan plateau. Jane Qiu reports on the changes atop the roof of the world.
939 citations