Another major <strong>in</strong>form<strong>at</strong>ion gap <strong>in</strong> the field is the lack of any “on the ground” d<strong>at</strong>a <strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>form<strong>at</strong>ion on the people <strong>and</strong> environments of the Himalayan region directly rel<strong>at</strong>ed to glaciers.Accord<strong>in</strong>g to TMI, almost all d<strong>at</strong>a th<strong>at</strong> exist about glaciers has been collected through remotesens<strong>in</strong>g technology, with many <strong>in</strong>fluential st<strong>at</strong>ements <strong>and</strong> correl<strong>at</strong>ions based on d<strong>at</strong>a-deficientmodel<strong>in</strong>g results. There has been very little “ground-truth<strong>in</strong>g” of this d<strong>at</strong>a or the st<strong>at</strong>ementsmade. For example, TMI recently launched a field expedition to the Everest region to assess thecondition of 9 glacier lakes previously classified as “dangerous” by remote sens<strong>in</strong>g technology.The expedition revealed th<strong>at</strong> 7 of the lakes th<strong>at</strong> were deemed “dangerous” were judged not tobe, but one th<strong>at</strong> had not been so classified was judged to be “very dangerous” <strong>and</strong> th<strong>at</strong> a secondlake, recently re-classified as “non-dangerous,” was grow<strong>in</strong>g so rapidly th<strong>at</strong> <strong>in</strong>tensive monitor<strong>in</strong>g<strong>and</strong> mitig<strong>at</strong>ion plann<strong>in</strong>g were called for. TMI has suggested th<strong>at</strong> only by system<strong>at</strong>ically comb<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gfield <strong>and</strong> labor<strong>at</strong>ory-based <strong>in</strong>vestig<strong>at</strong>ions, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>in</strong>sights of local people, can the tools beacquired to enable the identific<strong>at</strong>ion of real thre<strong>at</strong>s, non-thre<strong>at</strong>s, <strong>and</strong> feasible adapt<strong>at</strong>ionstr<strong>at</strong>egies for vulnerable communities.The paucity of adequ<strong>at</strong>e <strong>and</strong> reliable d<strong>at</strong>a on glacier melt is partially due to political dynamics. Tod<strong>at</strong>e, most d<strong>at</strong>a has been collected on an ad-hoc basis with little coord<strong>in</strong><strong>at</strong>ion by a fragmentedcommunity of organiz<strong>at</strong>ions. Many respondents noted th<strong>at</strong> coord<strong>in</strong><strong>at</strong>ion should be a n<strong>at</strong>ionalresponsibility, although regional coord<strong>in</strong><strong>at</strong>ion <strong>and</strong> cooper<strong>at</strong>ion are also needed. For example,ICIMOD noted th<strong>at</strong> one important need is long-term longitud<strong>in</strong>al <strong>and</strong> l<strong>at</strong>itud<strong>in</strong>al transect d<strong>at</strong><strong>at</strong>h<strong>at</strong> would allow conclusions to be drawn for sub-regions, w<strong>at</strong>er bas<strong>in</strong>s, or specific systems.However, this requires long-term commitment from governments <strong>in</strong> the region, <strong>and</strong> thisrequirement can be problem<strong>at</strong>ic, especially given th<strong>at</strong> glacier research sub-regions rarelycorrel<strong>at</strong>e with political boundaries. This was well illustr<strong>at</strong>ed by a Science article <strong>in</strong> November2009 which st<strong>at</strong>ed th<strong>at</strong> because of l<strong>in</strong>ger<strong>in</strong>g tensions, a diplom<strong>at</strong>ic <strong>in</strong>iti<strong>at</strong>ive to get Ch<strong>in</strong>ese <strong>and</strong>Indian scientists work<strong>in</strong>g together on glaciers had been shelved <strong>in</strong> August over territorialdisputes (Bagla 2009).However, TMI, ICIMOD, the US N<strong>at</strong>ional Science Found<strong>at</strong>ion, <strong>and</strong> others are plann<strong>in</strong>g a second<strong>in</strong>terdiscipl<strong>in</strong>ary workshop <strong>in</strong> Nepal focused on enhanc<strong>in</strong>g networks among scientists <strong>and</strong> policymakers. Participants will <strong>in</strong>clude represent<strong>at</strong>ives of the 8-country Himalayan-H<strong>in</strong>du Kush region,North America, South America, <strong>and</strong> Europe, build<strong>in</strong>g upon the success of the 2009 workshop <strong>in</strong>Peru entitled “Adapt<strong>in</strong>g to a World without <strong>Glaciers</strong>.” 9Another gap rel<strong>at</strong>ed to community-based adapt<strong>at</strong>ion activities <strong>in</strong> the Himalaya is the need toensure upstream-downstream l<strong>in</strong>kages between communities <strong>and</strong> any adapt<strong>at</strong>ion <strong>in</strong>terventions,currently an area th<strong>at</strong> is under-researched. This is generally more of a problem <strong>in</strong> mounta<strong>in</strong>regions. TMI has been consider<strong>in</strong>g this issue <strong>and</strong> pilot<strong>in</strong>g an approach <strong>in</strong> the Andes us<strong>in</strong>g fieldbasedresearch of highl<strong>and</strong>-lowl<strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>teractions <strong>and</strong> ecosystem services; new clim<strong>at</strong>e change <strong>and</strong>highl<strong>and</strong>-lowl<strong>and</strong> curriculum development (middle to high school level); awareness rais<strong>in</strong>gactivities; <strong>and</strong> lowl<strong>and</strong> constituency build<strong>in</strong>g for enhanced mounta<strong>in</strong> ecosystem service9 http://www.mounta<strong>in</strong>.org/press/events/glaciers/agenda.pdf46
stewardship. Similar programs may be appropri<strong>at</strong>e for <strong>Asia</strong>n regions, once the results of theprogram <strong>in</strong> the Andes become available.One further recommend<strong>at</strong>ion for <strong>at</strong>tention <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>vestment is <strong>in</strong>directly rel<strong>at</strong>ed to glacier meltissues <strong>in</strong> mounta<strong>in</strong> regions: the need for large-scale conserv<strong>at</strong>ion <strong>and</strong> restor<strong>at</strong>ion of highl<strong>and</strong>ecosystems. Although glacier-fed freshw<strong>at</strong>er supplies may be dim<strong>in</strong>ish<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> some areas, futuregener<strong>at</strong>ions can most likely be assured of a cont<strong>in</strong>uous supply of freshw<strong>at</strong>er if mounta<strong>in</strong>ecosystems are conserved or restored.47
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