Changing Glaciers and Hydrology in Asia - Environmental Health at ...

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River Basin) include southern Kazakhstan, most of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, EasternUzbekistan, Western China, Northeastern Afghanistan, and a small part ofTurkmenistan. The hotspot contains about 20,000 glaciers, has an arid climate, and ishome to a highly threatened type of walnut-fruit forest, unique to this region, whichcontains ancestors of domestic fruit varieties and is an important storehouse of geneticdiversity. The hotspot is also home to a rich variety of ungulates, including thethreatened argali wild sheep.Finally, the entire region of Southeast Asia is a hotspot, covering all or part of fourmajor river basins that originate in High Asia. Unique mammals are still being discoveredthere, and threatened turtle species and over 1,300 different bird species make theirhomes here.Accelerated glacier melt is only oneof the ongoing changes in theseregions, which face many differentpressures, among them the impactsof climate change.Environmental change is alreadybeginning in the high-altitude regionswhere glaciers are plentiful. Forexample, Tibet is experiencingwarming temperatures, along withand generally drier conditions; thelatter is at least partially attributableto unsustainable land practices(Khoday 2007).3.5 POTENTIAL GOVERNANCE ANDCONFLICT IMPLICATIONS OFUNSTABLE WATER SUPPLYFigure 3.16. Disputed boundaries (in red) involve glaciers andwater resources. See Figure 3.1 for country boundaries and basinnames. Disputed data source: US Department of State 2010.Map credit: Brian MelchiorBecause the river basins span multiple national borders, there will inevitably be disputesbetween the different nations over the use of water within the basins, despite existing treatiesthat cover various aspects of water allocation and rights. Areas like Aksai Chin and the SiachenRegions are already disputed areas (see Figures 3.16 above and 3.17 on the following page).Increased accessibility and extraction of water resources will only exacerbate alreadyproblematic areas.Governance issues in the region will weigh heavily in both mitigation and adaptation actionsrelated to glacier melt in the region. The two largest countries (in terms of population,economy, and land area), India and China, will likely be most influential in climate-change-relatedpolicies and activities. Both of these countries are increasing their greenhouse gas emissions and,at the same time, emphasize their rights (as non-Annex-1 countries under the United Nations40
Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC]) to both increase their level ofdevelopment (and associatedemissions) and be compensated forthe costs of adaptation to climatechange by the industrialized nationsof Annex 1. Both centralgovernments have goodenvironmental laws, butimplementation at lower levels ofgovernment has been a challengefor both.For India, governance is animportant aspect of both watermanagement and food security,from local water user associationsto central government policies onirrigation. Glacier retreat, combinedwith changes in precipitation(especially the monsoon) will likelyFigure 3.17. A closer look at the area where boundaries aredisputed which include the Siachen Glacier. Data source: ICIMOD2010. Disputed data source: US Department of State 2010.increase uncertainties about when and how much water will be available in the Indo-GangeticPlain, where almost half of India’s people live. Challenges to growing crops will affect hundredsof millions of people who have only limited adaptation options and whose health maydeteriorate as food scarcity increases; governmental proactive policies could ameliorate theseimpacts.Both floods and droughts also have the potential to exacerbate water contamination andincrease diseases. This requires governments to be prepared to reduce disaster risks andrespond.China has a smaller proportion of the Earth’s water than its proportion of the Earth’s humanpopulation and it controls the sources of important rivers that flow out of its boundaries. Thesetwo conditions lead to the potential for China to divert available water from the HimalayanPlateau and other high mountains for its own use, putting downstream countries in South,Southeast, and Central Asia at risk of water scarcity. The scale of such diversion projects wouldlikely result in greater central government control of water systems in the region. Waterscarcity may worsen in the North China plain where farmers are already mining groundwater.Regional water management has been both called for and lacking. India’s preference for bilateralagreements and China’s non-participation have tended to preclude meaningful regional action.India currently has the long-standing Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan for water-sharing and atreaty with Bangladesh providing water to the latter–both have been the subjects of dispute.China’s dam-building plans are a source of concern to all countries downstream from theChinese high mountains, but other countries (e.g., Laos and Cambodia) have dams and plans tobuild more (Cronin 2007). The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been weak41
Page 5 and 6: Changing Glaciers and Hydrology in
Page 7 and 8: AcknowledgementsThe diversity of in
Page 9: NGOOFDAPAIREDDRH/FPRIMESRDMASPOT5SR
Page 12 and 13: elevation, retreats. Measuring the
Page 14 and 15: Potential for Cross-Sectoral, Multi
Page 16 and 17: 7. More efficient, climate-change-r
Page 18 and 19: An outcome of this process was incr
Page 20 and 21: changing ecosystems and land-use pa
Page 23 and 24: SECTION 2GLACIERS AND HYDROLOGIC CH
Page 25 and 26: complex and time consuming, so only
Page 27 and 28: The World Glacier Monitoring Servic
Page 29 and 30: and a decrease in the summer/winter
Page 31 and 32: alance. Berthier et al. (2007) comp
Page 33 and 34: forcing (climate change) (Ramanatha
Page 35 and 36: contribution, compared to total run
Page 37: These concerns are mirrored in the
Page 40 and 41: Human health and ecosystem impacts
Page 42 and 43: Glaciers are also an important sour
Page 44 and 45: and China (Figure 3.13 on page28).
Page 46 and 47: Figure 3.13. Projections of water s
Page 48 and 49: uncertainties about water availabil
Page 52 and 53: in action and the Mekong River Comm
Page 54 and 55: exacerbate vulnerability on the gro
Page 56 and 57: Another major information gap in th
Page 59 and 60: SECTION 5APPROACHES TO ADDRESSING C
Page 61 and 62: is deposited on reflective glacier
Page 63 and 64: Central Asian Republics. Like the I
Page 65 and 66: and snow water equivalent) and sate
Page 67 and 68: serious food security problems in P
Page 69 and 70: Another dimension of water manageme
Page 71 and 72: increased attention to WASH interve
Page 73 and 74: development that predispose areas t
Page 75 and 76: Demographic and socioeconomic facto
Page 77 and 78: a. Strengthen the capacity of commu
Page 79: carbon on young children. Appropria
Page 82 and 83: 4. Improved regional cooperation (t
Page 85 and 86: REFERENCESADB and IFPRI [Asian Deve
Page 87 and 88: IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Cl
Page 89 and 90: ased on Chinese Glacier Inventory a
Page 91: APPENDIX ATASK 2 DATABASEThe databa
Page 95 and 96: Current Work on Issues Related to G
Page 101 and 102:
Current Work on Issues Related to G
Page 103 and 104:
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
Page 109:
Appendix A.2Summary by Region
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
Page 117 and 118:
Page 119:
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