The impact of climate change in hindu kush himalayas: Key sustainability issues

Abstract

After the observation of IPCC 4th assessment that the Himalayas are “data deficient” with regard to climate change, some progress has been made particularly in the areas of glacier shrinkage, snow cover change, glacial lake outburst flooding, river discharge, treeline advance, phenological shift, climate change mitigation and adaptations, and people’s perceptions. This article focuses on complex interactions among climate change impacts on various bio-physical and socio-economic components of the Hindu Kush Himalayan region ecosystems. The magnitude of climate change impacts can be traced from impacts, such as pre-monsoon drought to crop failure and outmigration of people. The interconnectedness of the ecosystem components makes the Climate Change impacts complex, and often has a cascading effect across various environmental systems. We shed light on how climate change effects get intensified by interacting with other anthropogenic factors. There is a need to devote more concerted efforts to generate primary data, and document evidences to understand the complexity and interconnectedness of CC impacts to address sustainable development issues in the Himalayan mountains.