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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Owen KingORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Knowledge about the long-term response of High Mountain Asian glaciers to climatic variations is paramount because of their important role in sustaining Asian river flow. Here, a satellite-based time series of glacier mass balance for seven climatically different regions across High Mountain Asia since the 1960s shows that glacier mass loss rates have persistently increased at most sites. Regional glacier mass budgets ranged from −0.40 ± 0.07 m w.e.a−1 in Central and Northern Tien Shan to −0.06 ± 0.07 m w.e.a−1 in Eastern Pamir, with considerable temporal and spatial variability. Highest rates of mass loss occurred in Central Himalaya and Northern Tien Shan after 2015 and even in regions where glaciers were previously in balance with climate, such as Eastern Pamir, mass losses prevailed in recent years. An increase in summer temperature explains the long-term trend in mass loss and now appears to drive mass loss even in regions formerly sensitive to both temperature and precipitation.
Author(s): Bhattacharya A, Bolch T, Mukherjee K, King O, Menounos B, Kapitsa V, Neckel N, Yang W, Tandong Y
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Nature Communications
Year: 2021
Volume: 12
Online publication date: 05/07/2021
Acceptance date: 01/06/2021
Date deposited: 29/11/2023
ISSN (electronic): 2041-1723
Publisher: Springer Nature
URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24180-y
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24180-y
Data Access Statement: Utilized Corona KH-4, Hexagon KH-9, and ASTER data are available at www.earthexplorer.usgs.gov. Pléiades, SPOT, TerraSAR-X, and GeoEye are commercial. ERA5 land data is available from https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/dataset/reanalysis-era5-land?tab=form. Weather station data is restricted. Geodetic mass balances for each glacier grids of surface elevation changes will be available from PANGAEA (https://www.pangaea.de) and also available for download at www.mountcryo.org and upon request from the authors. All other relevant non-restricted data are available from the authors upon request.
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