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

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Increased ownership of cross-sectoral approaches by health and environmentprofessionals, networks and programsEcosystem management for human health programs yields co-benefits such as the following:Improved health and well-being of the local populationsMore cost-effective prevention of water and vector-borne diseasesDevelopment of an analytical framework that combines ecological factors (e.g., vectorecology, climatic factors) with biological (e.g., sero-conversion rates, vector infectionrates) and social factors (e.g., public services, housing patterns, water storage andgarbage disposal practices, community dynamics) to produce more holistic, costeffectivehealth interventions for maternal and child health and child survivalReduced disease burden among working adults, leading to higher labor productivity andincomes (poverty reduction)Increased ownership of cross-sectoral approaches by health and environmentprofessionals, networks and programs5.2.3 Focus on High-Mountain CommunitiesThis approach focuses on integrating activities to address glacier melt impacts with otherdevelopment needs in high-altitude communities. High-altitude communities are chosen as afocus for two fundamental reasons. First, they are on the frontlines of GLOFs and retreatingglaciers affecting their local water supplies. These changes are happening now. Secondly, thesecommunities are at the headwaters of the major river systems of Asia. Maintaining headwaterecosystem health and the well-being of communities will benefit potentially millions of peopledownstream.The changing dynamics of glacier-hydrological (snow/ice/water) regimes in High Asia and theirinter-relationships with human-induced climate change have wide-ranging impacts on water,impacts that will also be felt across the inherently linked sectors of ecosystems, agriculture,energy, and human health. The dangers of GLOFs, discussed in Section 2.6, call for disasterplanning in potentially affected communities. The human and environmental vulnerabilitiesdiscussed in Section 3, such as water stress, poor health status, and ecosystem degradation,increase the potential for negative impacts from glacier melt and associated water systemchanges.Vulnerable groups (female-headed families, elderly, disabled, ethnic/caste groups) are likely to beamong the worst affected during disasters because they lack access to resources such as socialinfluence, transportation, literacy, livelihood skills and assets. Smallholder and subsistencefarmers, fishers, pastoralists and traditional societies also are more likely to be adverselyaffected because they are already the most vulnerable to food insecurity and malnutrition(Costello et al. 2009).64
Demographic and socioeconomic factors, including the lack of reproductive health and familyplanning services, influence people’s ability to cope with water stress, and the impacts of glaciermelt/retreat will exacerbate these challenges. Effective governance is also crucial to a society’sresilience to natural and climate-change induced disasters. Weak governance and barriers thatprevent people and communities from improving their lives, as well as inequalities of caste,ethnicity, religion, or tribes, all contribute to increased vulnerability.These environmental and non-environmental factors and their inter-relationships necessitate theuse of cross-sectoral and integrated approaches in the development of adaptation and mitigationstrategies for glacier melt/retreat in Asia. Especially in High Asia’s small and remotecommunities, the interrelated complex systems that include ecosystems and human systems callfor integrated programming.USAID can use integrated programming models that work cross-sectorally and through localinstitutions and communities to reduce vulnerability and strengthen resilience to the impacts ofglacier melt/retreat in High Asia. Good governance; social mobilization; and information,education and communication (IEC) are cross-cutting themes; together with landscape-levelplanning, building on existing adaptive capacity, supporting low-cost adaptation, tapping existinginstitutional capacity, and mobilization across administrative levels.At least two project models can be developed and tested to respond to the different hazards,risks and impacts; those associated with glacier-hydrological regimes in more populated, lowaltitude(5300 m) communities. These include locations where low-altitude glaciers may be melting andpose direct threats to communities living near the glacier terminus or alongside rivers, andlocations where GLOFs have occurred in the past or where advancing glaciers may impoundrivers in the near future and generate floods or debris flows. These threats affect humansettlements, land and infrastructure beyond the existing glacier area. USAID’s OFDA is active inworking on hydrometerological forecasting in Asia and its experience is a resource for pursuingthese issues.Sectors AddressedHuman reproductive health and family planning, water resource management, biodiversity andecosystems conservation, agriculture, energy, health, and disaster preparedness/management.Illustrative ProgramsIllustrative programs focused on high-mountain communities include the following:1. At the national level, programs could support the development planning processes thatpromote community-based and integrated approaches to glacier disaster preparedness andrisk reduction that are comprehensive and include family planning and sustainablemanagement of water resources among other coping and adaptation strategies. Theprograms should seek to mainstream integrated approaches into existing policies and actionplans (i.e., NAPAs for the UNFCCC) rather than create new initiatives.65
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Changing Glaciers and Hydrology in
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AcknowledgementsThe diversity of in
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NGOOFDAPAIREDDRH/FPRIMESRDMASPOT5SR
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elevation, retreats. Measuring the
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Potential for Cross-Sectoral, Multi
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7. More efficient, climate-change-r
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An outcome of this process was incr
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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 50 and 51: River Basin) include southern Kazak
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: development that predispose areas t
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 109: Appendix A.2Summary by Region
Page 119: Current Work on Issues Related to G
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