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

SECTION 4EXISTING ACTIVITIES RELATED TO GLACIER MELTAs well as scoping the extent of short- and long-term concerns stemming from glacier retreatand identifying societal vulnerabilities to these changes in the near and longer terms, the studyteam surveyed activities already underway relating to the issues of climate change impacts onglaciers and high-altitude hydrology. The aim of this survey was to find out what otherorganizations are doing in relation to glacier melt and what the gaps are that might inform therecommendations of this study. An understanding of these current activities will enableresources to be allocated appropriately to areas where no programs exist, USAID activitiescould complement other activities, or USAID could cooperate or partner with other funders.The geographic scope of this task included all countries of the Himalayan Plateau and its outlyingsub-ranges (including India, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and Afghanistan), the countries ofSoutheast Asia, and the Central Asian Republics (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan). The approach adopted for this review involved desk-basedliterature review, internet searches, phone and email conversations; and in-person meetings orvisits undertaken where feasible. Information requests included the activities of organizationsrelating to glacier melt, and key partners and recommended contacts. To help inform dataanalysis, more detailed phone and in-person interviews were conducted with several keystakeholders who provided additional information on impressions of data and information gapsrelating to work currently being undertaken on glacier melt in Asia. Organizations contacted oncountry visits to India and Nepal in April 2010 were also added. Another important list ofresources can be found in the feasibility study of the Asian Research Center of Excellence forClimate Change and Development (ARC) (USAID 2010).The results from this search are presented in the form of an Excel spreadsheet (see Appendix A)with a main database (Appendix A.1) which contains all the information gleaned from this study,and two summaries: according to country or region (Appendix A.2); and thematically (AppendixA.3).4.1 EMPHASES OF CURRENT ACTIVITIESMost of the current activity specifically related to glacier melt is taking place in India and China;relatively less activity was found in the Central Asian Republics, although there is a wealth ofdata from the Soviet era and active research programs. The current situation is not surprising,given glacier distribution patterns and the comparative resources available for glacier meltresearch across the region.Thematically, most research and activity to date has focused on glacier monitoring, althoughGLOF risks are receiving increased attention as a key climate change hazard in the Himalayanregion. Less attention has been paid to downstream implications of glacier melt and adaptationstrategies. There is very little assessment of the factors underpinning risks from glacier melt that43