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

SECTION 6CONCLUSIONSThe review of scientific information about glacier melt in High Asia revealed, first and foremost,a lack of data and information, a lack that hampers attempts to project likely impacts and takeaction to adapt to changed conditions. Known near-term impacts include the increasingpotential for GLOFs and the disappearance of small glaciers, especially at lower latitudes.Understanding that glacier melt/retreat, although occurring at increasing rates, is not likely toproduce widespread disastrous impacts in the next decade or two means that societies havetime to build their resilience to changes in the amount of water available and when it arrivesduring the year. However, existing vulnerabilities in human health status, population pressure,degraded ecosystems and – especially – water stress make societies and ecosystems vulnerableto any changes in water availability as glacier melt accelerates in the coming decades.As a result of this analysis, the program conceptsdeveloped in consultation with USAID addressedthree different elements: the challenge of lack ofinformation, vulnerabilities related to currentsocietal and ecosystem conditions, and the need formitigation, focusing on black carbon. These programconcepts represent “no regrets’ activities, meaningthat they address critical needs, however the glaciersrespond to climate change.The multi-faceted analysis presented here leads toconclusions (listed in italics) about the characteristicsof programs that are likely to be effective inaddressing glacier melt and its impacts:“The combined water resources of the greaterHimalayan region are immense, almost beyondcomprehension. Consequently, the need forappropriate and efficient management cannot beexaggerated. Not only the economic stability ofseveral of the individual countries in the region,but the very well-being of many hundred millionpeople, depend on rapid progress towardappropriate management.”Jack Ives, 2006As glacier melt is part of complex, region-wide hydrologic changes that are happening as a result ofclimate change, effective programs to address glacier melt will be cross-sectoral and will achieve cobenefitsacross sectors.Below are examples of benefits that can be part of co-benefit streams:1. Improved health outcomes (from healthier ecosystems, reduced pollution, improvedsanitation, more efficient water use);2. Reduced fertility and easing of population pressures (by meeting family planning needs);3. Strengthened governance institutions (through environmental, agricultural, and forestrymanagement; development of national and local policies; establishment andempowerment of local resource user groups);71