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Recent Advances in Seismo-Geophysical Studies for the Arctic Region under Climate Change Scenario
Published in Neloy Khare, Climate Change in the Arctic, 2022
O. P. Mishra, Priya Singh, Neloy Khare
It is intriguing to note that the role of ice melting on genesis and suppression of earthquakes is well documented by many researchers in their studies carried out for the Polar Regions, including Greenland, Canadian region and the Himalayan glacier region, referred to as the third pole of the world (Wood 2000; Wu and Johnston 2000; Mishra 2014; Olivieri and Spada 2015; Mishra et al. 2021; Khare et al. 2018). They argued that the spatio-temporal distribution of earthquakes is principally associated with the absence of the thick layer of ice due to significant melting of ice sheets under climate change scenario, which has been referred to as glacial melt mass change induced earthquakes by Mishra et al. (2021) for the glaciated areas of the Himalayan region. Nonetheless, Olivieri and Spada (2015) did not find a distinct correlation between seismic activity and ice melting in Greenland. Moreover, vertical distribution of earthquakes suggests two pertinent mechanisms involved in genesis of earthquakes in which post-glacial rebound promotes moderate-size crustal earthquakes at a regional scale whilst the continuous ice melting promotes local, shallow, low-magnitude seismicity.
Snow and Glacier Resources in the Western Himalayas
Published in Shruti Kanga, Suraj Kumar Singh, Gowhar Meraj, Majid Farooq, Geospatial Modeling for Environmental Management, 2022
Asif Marazi, Shakil Ahmad Romshoo
The snow and glacier melt plays a crucial role in regulating the hydrology of basins in Hindu Kush-Karakoram-Himalayan (HKH) region. The HKH region hosts the largest snow and glacier resources outside the poles, with ~50% of all the glacial area falling outside the polar region (Mayewski and Jeschke, 1979). According to Bajracharya and Shrestha (2011), the total number of glaciers in the HKH region is 54,252, which covers an area of around 60,000 km2. This vast snow and glacier reserve is the origin of numerous rivers including the 10 largest rivers in the Asia which supply water to more than 1.3 billion people downstream (~18% of the global population), hence referred to as the water tower of Asia or the third pole (Armstrong, 2010; Shrestha et al., 2015). The three major river systems in the South Asia the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra are formed due to the convergence of several rivers and streams that flow downwards from the large snow and glacier fields of the Himalayas and the melt water being the primary driver of the annual river flows, though the contribution varies seasonally (Schaner et al., 2012). These rivers nourish the most highly irrigated region in the world, e.g., Indus basin has ~144,900 km2 of irrigated land with the largest irrigation network in the world, Ganges basin has 156,300 km2, and Brahmaputra has 6,000 km2 of irrigated land (Immerzeel et al., 2010). The South Asian region, which is the combined catchment of Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra, is heavily dependent on agricultural economy (Devendra, 1997). Moreover, export of rice produced in the Indus basin using the snow and glacier melt waters to other parts of the world, e.g., Africa, regulates the economic and political relationship between South Asia and the world. The Indus basin with an area of ~1.1 million km2 is nourished by about 18,495 glaciers which cover a total area of 21,193 km2 (~35% of the total glacier area in the HKH) with an estimated ice reserve of 2,696 km3 (Bajracharya and Shrestha, 2011). According to Immerzeel et al. (2009), snow and glacier melt play a dominant role in regulating the hydrology of the Upper Indus Basin (UIB) by contributing ~72% to annual streamflow. Moreover, ~50% of water that flows in the Indus river irrigation scheme is contributed by snow and glaciers (Winiger et al., 2005). This specifies the importance of water provided by the snow and glaciers.
Sustainable earth observations for the Arctic, the Antarctic and the high-altitude mountain cold regions
Published in International Journal of Digital Earth, 2019
Jouni Pulliainen, Bin Cheng, Yubao Qiu
The Arctic, the Antarctic as well as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) are cold regions on Earth where snow and ice dominate the local environment and impact the global climate via several strong feedback mechanisms. The observations and information service for those cold regions are vital for the societal benefits, and support from the science to policy making (Qiu et al. 2016). Earth cold regions exhibit strong sensitivity to global climate change and are thus some of the most fragile regions in terms of global ecology (Pulliainen et al. 2017). Due to these inherent similarities, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau area has been termed as the ‘Third Pole’, which is experiencing profound environmental changes.