Himalayan glaciers retreat and implications for sectoral climate adaptation

Abstract

In the latter half of the twentieth century, an increase in the rate of retreat has been observed in Himalayan glaciers since the advent of industrialization. This chapter attempts to present a critical review and understanding of the recent changes in retreat of selected Himalayan glaciers from climate change and implications for adaptation. The chapter is of great significance to local and regional adaptation planners and local decision makers for communities, ecosystem, and sustainable energy planning. The study discusses the different methods of monitoring changes in Himalayan glaciers; explores scientific evidence and analysis of available data from the glaciers in the Himalayas, from a climate change perspective; and suggests an action plan for future freshwater resource needs downstream. The data represent fluctuations and varied responses of glaciers of Indian Himalayas towards changes being encountered globally. The longest data series of mass balance available for Shaune Garang glacier does not indicate any generalized trend of mass balance in the region. The analysis of snout retreat in comparison to area of the glacier does not give any information about any relationship between snout fluctuations and area of a glacier. The snout retreat analyzed on regional basis also lack of showing any clear trend of retreat/advance for a particular region. Thus to understand this kind of interrelationship, the influence of microclimatic parameters is required for which there is a lack of data availability. Future efforts in building the resilience of the local community and the ecosystems should take into account a concerted and integrated approach.