The Status of Glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Status of Glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region The Status of Glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region The Status of Glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region Editors Samjwal Ratna Bajracharya Basanta Shrestha International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, Nepal, November 2011 Published by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development GPO Box 3226, Kathmandu, Nepal Copyright © 2011 International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) All rights reserved. Published 2011 ISBN 978 92 9115 215 5 (printed) 978 92 9115 217 9 (electronic) LCCN 2011-312013 Printed and bound in Nepal by Sewa Printing Press, Kathmandu, Nepal Production team A Beatrice Murray (Consultant editor) Andrea Perlis (Senior editor) Dharma R Maharjan (Layout and design) Asha Kaji Thaku (Editorial assistant) Note This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit purposes without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement of the source is made. ICIMOD would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this publication as a source. No use of this publication may be made for resale or for any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior permission in writing from ICIMOD. The views and interpretations in this publication are those of the author(s). They are not attribuTable to ICIMOD and do not imply the expression of any opinion concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries, or the endorsement of any product. This publication is available in electronic form at www.icimod.org/publications Citation: Bajracharya, SR; Shrestha, B (eds) (2011) The status of glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region. Kathmandu: ICIMOD Foreword I am very pleased to present this report on the state of the glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region. The study represents a major advance on ICIMOD’s first publication on the state of glaciers in 2001. Close collaboration with specialists from the different countries has enabled the preparation of a comprehensive account of the glacier cover of the entire region using a consistent approach and methodology based on remote sensing information from a limited time period. The Hindu Kush-Himalayan region encompasses more than 4 million square kilometres of hills and mountains in the eight countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. The vast expanse of snow and ice gives it the name ‘water tower of Asia’. The meltwater from snow and ice feeds ten large river systems: the Amu Darya, Brahmaputra, Ganges, Indus, Irrawaddy, Mekong, Salween, Tarim, Yangtze, and Yellow Rivers. The river basins cover an area of about 9 million square kilometres of which 2.8 million square kilometres lie within the Hindu Kush- Himalayan region. The inventory identifies 54,000 glaciers, clean-ice and debris-covered, with a total area of 60,000 km2 and estimated 6,000 km3 of ice reserves, within the ten river basins and large interior basin of HKH region. The cryosphere of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region plays a significant role in the regional climatic system, and is also a sensitive indicator of global climate change. Climate change is a major driver affecting the cryospheric environment, threatening the freshwater reserves and posing increased risks from climate-induced hazards to the mountain region and its immediate downstream communities. However, there is a marked lack of consistent, detailed, and long-term information for the region, and in particular for glacier and snow cover. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) fourth assessment report shows that the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region comprises a major data gap in terms of any climatic assessment. We believe that this study represents a significant step towards bridging the data and information gap on the glaciers of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region. It is the first report to cover the entire region from a single consistent source. The complete database and analyses will be made available online in a mountain portal at http://geoportal.icimod.org/ HKHGlacier, which can be used by all stakeholders, from national and local governments to the public at large. The database provides basic information and knowledge for regional level assessments and monitoring of the glaciated environment to support the development of strategies and policies in the context of climate change. It will also contribute to increased understanding of the impacts of climate change on glaciers and the implications for the mountain ecosystem and the downstream riparian countries in terms of water availability. We believe that this glacier data has immense importance and will serve the scientific community, decision makers, and other relevant stakeholders. However, we are also aware of the limitations. This inventory is only a first step in obtaining the information needed. Field verification of the data could only be carried out at a few selected sites, and mass balancing remains a task ahead. The estimates on ice volumes are thus imprecise and serve as an indicator only. They will be corrected as more reliable information becomes available from in situ investigations. As a regional knowledge centre, ICIMOD hopes to develop the information base further by fostering regional cooperation and promoting sharing and exchange of data at the international level, thus contributing to reducing the scientific uncertainty in understanding of the impacts of climate change. ICIMOD is grateful to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) for its financial support for the cryosphere monitoring project and advice given during implementation. We are especially pleased that the project has enabled us to further strengthen our collaboration and cooperation with national partners in our regional member countries. I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to the ICIMOD colleagues and national partners for their efforts in undertaking this comprehensive and painstaking study. I am confident that the publication and data portal will be a useful resource for the countries of the region, as well as for scientists worldwide studying the processes, potential impacts, and implications of climate change. Andreas Schild Director General ICIMOD About This Report This report provides a comprehensive account of the glacier coverage of the entire Hindu Kush-Himalayan region based on a standardised analysis of satellite images over a limited time frame. A mountain web portal (http://geoportal.icimod.org/HKHGlacier) has been set up to complement the report and provide easy access to the data and analyses. The report and the database serve as a significant step in filling the gap in information on the glaciers of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region. The data analyses are presented in terms of the major river basins: Amu Darya, Brahmaputra, Ganges, Indus, Irrawaddy, Mekong, Salween, Tarim, Yangtze, and Yellow, and the large Himalayan interior basin. These basins extend across the seven Hindu Kush-Himalayan countries of Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. The eighth Hindu Kush-Himalayan country, Bangladesh, has no glacial cover. A consistent remote sensing methodology was used to delineate the clean-ice and debris cover of glaciers and the glacier attribute parameters which are documented in line with the standards provided by the World Glacier Monitoring Services. The report provides a comprehensive account of glaciers to cover the entire region utilising a uniform methodological approach. Contents Foreword iii About This Report iv Contributing Authors vi Acknowledgements vii Acronyms and Abbreviations viii Part 1 – Methodology 1 1 Introduction 2 2 The Glacier Inventory Approach 5 3 Data Collection and Glacier Mapping Methodology 7 4 Glacier Inventory Attributes 14 Part 2 – Status of Glaciers 17 5 Amu Darya Basin 18 6 Indus Basin 24 7 Ganges (Ganga) Basin 41 8 Brahmaputra Basin 68 9 Irrawaddy Basin 96 10 Salween Basin 100 11 Mekong Basin 104 12 Yangtze Basin 108 13 Yellow River Basin 111 14 Tarim Interior Basin 115 15 Eastern Asian Qinghai-Tibetan Interior Basins 119 Conclusion 122 References 125 Contributing Authors The original data for this report was prepared at ICIMOD in collaboration with national partners and later synthesised and analysed to provide a basin-wise picture. The contributions of the individual authors to the chapters are listed below. Part 1 Methodology 9 Irrawaddy Basin Samjwal Ratna Bajracharya1; Sudan Bikash Maharjan1; 1 Introduction Finu Shrestha1 Samjwal Ratna Bajracharya1; Sudan Bikash Maharjan1; Finu Shrestha1; Basanta Shrestha1 10 Salween Basin Guo Wanqin3; Samjwal Ratna Bajracharya1; Liu Shiyin3; 2 The Glacier Inventory Approach Sudan Bikash Maharjan1; Finu Shrestha1; Yao Xiaojun3; Samjwal Ratna Bajracharya1; Sudan Bikash Maharjan1; Wei Junfeng3 Finu Shrestha1 11 Mekong Basin 3 Data Collection and Glacier Mapping Wei Junfeng3; Samjwal Ratna Bajracharya1; Liu Shiyin3; Methodology Sudan Bikash Maharjan1; Finu Shrestha1; Guo Wanqin3; Samjwal Ratna Bajracharya1; Sudan Bikash Maharjan1; Yao Xiaojun3 Finu Shrestha1; Basanta Shrestha1 12 Yangtze Basin 4 Glacier Inventory Attributes Wei Junfeng3; Samjwal Ratna Bajracharya1; Liu Shiyin3; Samjwal Ratna Bajracharya1; Sudan Bikash Maharjan1; Sudan Bikash Maharjan1; Finu Shrestha1; Yao Xiaojun3; Finu Shrestha1 Guo Wanqin3 13 Yellow River Basin Part 2 Status of Glaciers Guo Wanqin3; Samjwal Ratna Bajracharya1;
Recommended publications
  • Middle East Unit: Reading and Questions Part 1:​ Introduction Located at the Junction of Three Continents—​Europe​,​
    Middle East Unit: Reading and Questions Part 1: Introduction ​ Located at the junction of three continents—Europe, Asia, and Africa—the region ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ known as the Middle East has historically been a crossroads for conquerors, peoples, trade, and ideas as well as a transition zone for political and cultural interaction. Today the Middle East’s strategic location as a tricontinental hub, its vast petroleum reserves, its importance to Muslims, Christians, and Jews alike, and its many political disputes give it a global significance out of proportion to its size. The Middle East is a culturally, politically, and economically diverse region that extends for some 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) from west to east and some 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) from north to south. It is made up of several countries located on or near the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Although definitions vary, it is generally understood to encompass Egypt, Lebanon, ​ ​ ​ ​ Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, Iran, Iraq, and the Arabian ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Peninsula, which comprises Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait. The part of the region closest to Europe ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ formerly was known as the Near East, and some agencies still use that term instead of the Middle East to describe the entire region. 1. What are the 3 continents that house the “Middle East”? 2. What are they known for? 3. Label your map with the countries and bodies of waters in this text. Color the waters blue and the countries each a different color.
    [Show full text]
  • Lower to Middle Income Countries
    World Bank list of lower to middel income countries x x Economy Code X Region Income group 1 Afghanistan AFG South Asia Low income 2 Albania ALB Europe & Central Asia Upper middle income 3 Algeria DZA Middle East & North Africa Upper middle income 4 American Samoa ASM East Asia & Pacific Upper middle income 5 Angola AGO Sub-Saharan Africa Lower middle income 6 Armenia ARM Europe & Central Asia Upper middle income 7 Azerbaijan AZE Europe & Central Asia Upper middle income 8 Bangladesh BGD South Asia Lower middle income 9 Belarus BLR Europe & Central Asia Upper middle income 10 Belize BLZ Latin America & Caribbean Upper middle income 11 Benin BEN Sub-Saharan Africa Low income 12 Bhutan BTN South Asia Lower middle income 13 Bolivia BOL Latin America & Caribbean Lower middle income 14 Bosnia and Herzegovina BIH Europe & Central Asia Upper middle income 15 Botswana BWA Sub-Saharan Africa Upper middle income 16 Brazil BRA Latin America & Caribbean Upper middle income 17 Bulgaria BGR Europe & Central Asia Upper middle income 18 Burkina Faso BFA Sub-Saharan Africa Low income 19 Burundi BDI Sub-Saharan Africa Low income 20 Cabo Verde CPV Sub-Saharan Africa Lower middle income 21 Cambodia KHM East Asia & Pacific Lower middle income 22 Cameroon CMR Sub-Saharan Africa Lower middle income 23 Central African Republic CAF Sub-Saharan Africa Low income 24 Chad TCD Sub-Saharan Africa Low income 25 China CHN East Asia & Pacific Upper middle income 26 Colombia COL Latin America & Caribbean Upper middle income 27 Comoros COM Sub-Saharan Africa Low income 28 Congo, Dem.
    [Show full text]
  • Antecedence of the Yarlung–Siang–Brahmaputra River, Eastern Himalaya ∗ Karl A
    Earth and Planetary Science Letters 397 (2014) 145–158 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Earth and Planetary Science Letters www.elsevier.com/locate/epsl Antecedence of the Yarlung–Siang–Brahmaputra River, eastern Himalaya ∗ Karl A. Lang , Katharine W. Huntington Department of Earth and Space Sciences and Quaternary Research Center, Johnson Hall, Rm. 070, Box 351310, University of Washington, Box 351310, Seattle, WA 98195, USA article info abstract Article history: At the eastern terminus of the Himalayan orogen, distortion and capture of southeast Asian drainage Received 17 January 2014 basins reflects regional patterns of crustal strain due to the indentation of the Indian Plate into Eurasia. Received in revised form 11 April 2014 After flowing eastward >1000 km along the southern margin of Tibet, the Yarlung–Siang–Brahmaputra Accepted 12 April 2014 River turns abruptly southward through the eastern Himalayan syntaxis rapidly exhuming a crustal scale Available online 13 May 2014 antiform in an impressive >2 km knickpoint. This conspicuous drainage pattern and coincidence of Editor: T.M. Harrison focused fluvial incision and rapid rock exhumation has been explained by the capture of an ancestral, Keywords: high-elevation Yarlung River by headward erosion of a Himalayan tributary. However, recent observation Detrital zircon U–Pb geochronology of Tibetan detritus in Neogene foreland basin units complicates this explanation, requiring a connection River capture from Tibet to the foreland prior to the estimated onset of rapid rock exhumation. We constrain the Arunachal Pradesh Himalaya sedimentary provenance of foreland basin units deposited near the Brahmaputra River confluence in the Siwalik Group eastern Himalayan foreland basin using detrital zircon U–Pb geochronology.
    [Show full text]
  • Geo-Hydrological Hazards Induced by Gorkha Earthquake 2015
    Geo-hydrological hazards induced by Gorkha Earthquake 2015: A Case of Pharak area, Everest Region, Nepal Buddhi Raj Shrestha, Narendra Raj Khanal, Joëlle Smadja, Monique Fort To cite this version: Buddhi Raj Shrestha, Narendra Raj Khanal, Joëlle Smadja, Monique Fort. Geo-hydrological hazards induced by Gorkha Earthquake 2015: A Case of Pharak area, Everest Region, Nepal. The Geograph- ical Journal of Nepal, Central Department of Geography, Faculty of Humanities and Social Studies, Tribhuvan University, 2020, 13, pp.91 - 106. 10.3126/gjn.v13i0.28154. halshs-02933571 HAL Id: halshs-02933571 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02933571 Submitted on 17 Sep 2020 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. The Geographical Journal of Nepal Vol. 13: 91-106, 2020 Doi: http://doi.org/10.3126/gjn.v13i0.28154 Central Department of Geography, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal Geo-hydrological hazards induced by Gorkha Earthquake 2015: A Case of Pharak area, Everest Region, Nepal Buddhi Raj Shrestha1,4*, Narendra Raj Khanal1,4, Joëlle Smadja2,4, Monique Fort3,4 1 Central Department of Geography, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu Nepal 2 Centre for Himalayan Studies, UPR 299. CNRS, 7 rue Guy Môquet, 94800 Villejuif, France 3 Université Paris Diderot, GHES, Case 7001, UMR 8586 PRODIG CNRS, Paris Cedex 75013, France 4 ANR-13-SENV-0005-02 PRESHINE (* Corresponding Author: [email protected]) Received: 8 November 2019; Accepted: 22 January 2020; Published: March 2020 Abstract Nepal experienced disastrous earthquake events in 2015.
    [Show full text]
  • Flood Management Strategy for Ganga Basin Through Storage
    Flood Management Strategy for Ganga Basin through Storage by N. K. Mathur, N. N. Rai, P. N. Singh Central Water Commission Introduction The Ganga River basin covers the eleven States of India comprising Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. The occurrence of floods in one part or the other in Ganga River basin is an annual feature during the monsoon period. About 24.2 million hectare flood prone area Present study has been carried out to understand the flood peak formation phenomenon in river Ganga and to estimate the flood storage requirements in the Ganga basin The annual flood peak data of river Ganga and its tributaries at different G&D sites of Central Water Commission has been utilised to identify the contribution of different rivers for flood peak formations in main stem of river Ganga. Drainage area map of river Ganga Important tributaries of River Ganga Southern tributaries Yamuna (347703 sq.km just before Sangam at Allahabad) Chambal (141948 sq.km), Betwa (43770 sq.km), Ken (28706 sq.km), Sind (27930 sq.km), Gambhir (25685 sq.km) Tauns (17523 sq.km) Sone (67330 sq.km) Northern Tributaries Ghaghra (132114 sq.km) Gandak (41554 sq.km) Kosi (92538 sq.km including Bagmati) Total drainage area at Farakka – 931000 sq.km Total drainage area at Patna - 725000 sq.km Total drainage area of Himalayan Ganga and Ramganga just before Sangam– 93989 sq.km River Slope between Patna and Farakka about 1:20,000 Rainfall patten in Ganga basin
    [Show full text]
  • China-Southeast Asia Relations: Trends, Issues, and Implications for the United States
    Order Code RL32688 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web China-Southeast Asia Relations: Trends, Issues, and Implications for the United States Updated April 4, 2006 Bruce Vaughn (Coordinator) Analyst in Southeast and South Asian Affairs Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Wayne M. Morrison Specialist in International Trade and Finance Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress China-Southeast Asia Relations: Trends, Issues, and Implications for the United States Summary Southeast Asia has been considered by some to be a region of relatively low priority in U.S. foreign and security policy. The war against terror has changed that and brought renewed U.S. attention to Southeast Asia, especially to countries afflicted by Islamic radicalism. To some, this renewed focus, driven by the war against terror, has come at the expense of attention to other key regional issues such as China’s rapidly expanding engagement with the region. Some fear that rising Chinese influence in Southeast Asia has come at the expense of U.S. ties with the region, while others view Beijing’s increasing regional influence as largely a natural consequence of China’s economic dynamism. China’s developing relationship with Southeast Asia is undergoing a significant shift. This will likely have implications for United States’ interests in the region. While the United States has been focused on Iraq and Afghanistan, China has been evolving its external engagement with its neighbors, particularly in Southeast Asia. In the 1990s, China was perceived as a threat to its Southeast Asian neighbors in part due to its conflicting territorial claims over the South China Sea and past support of communist insurgency.
    [Show full text]
  • The Conservation Action Plan the Ganges River Dolphin
    THE CONSERVATION ACTION PLAN FOR THE GANGES RIVER DOLPHIN 2010-2020 National Ganga River Basin Authority Ministry of Environment & Forests Government of India Prepared by R. K. Sinha, S. Behera and B. C. Choudhary 2 MINISTER’S FOREWORD I am pleased to introduce the Conservation Action Plan for the Ganges river dolphin (Platanista gangetica gangetica) in the Ganga river basin. The Gangetic Dolphin is one of the last three surviving river dolphin species and we have declared it India's National Aquatic Animal. Its conservation is crucial to the welfare of the Ganga river ecosystem. Just as the Tiger represents the health of the forest and the Snow Leopard represents the health of the mountainous regions, the presence of the Dolphin in a river system signals its good health and biodiversity. This Plan has several important features that will ensure the existence of healthy populations of the Gangetic dolphin in the Ganga river system. First, this action plan proposes a set of detailed surveys to assess the population of the dolphin and the threats it faces. Second, immediate actions for dolphin conservation, such as the creation of protected areas and the restoration of degraded ecosystems, are detailed. Third, community involvement and the mitigation of human-dolphin conflict are proposed as methods that will ensure the long-term survival of the dolphin in the rivers of India. This Action Plan will aid in their conservation and reduce the threats that the Ganges river dolphin faces today. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. R. K. Sinha , Dr. S. K. Behera and Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • LIST of INDIAN CITIES on RIVERS (India)
    List of important cities on river (India) The following is a list of the cities in India through which major rivers flow. S.No. City River State 1 Gangakhed Godavari Maharashtra 2 Agra Yamuna Uttar Pradesh 3 Ahmedabad Sabarmati Gujarat 4 At the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Allahabad Uttar Pradesh Saraswati 5 Ayodhya Sarayu Uttar Pradesh 6 Badrinath Alaknanda Uttarakhand 7 Banki Mahanadi Odisha 8 Cuttack Mahanadi Odisha 9 Baranagar Ganges West Bengal 10 Brahmapur Rushikulya Odisha 11 Chhatrapur Rushikulya Odisha 12 Bhagalpur Ganges Bihar 13 Kolkata Hooghly West Bengal 14 Cuttack Mahanadi Odisha 15 New Delhi Yamuna Delhi 16 Dibrugarh Brahmaputra Assam 17 Deesa Banas Gujarat 18 Ferozpur Sutlej Punjab 19 Guwahati Brahmaputra Assam 20 Haridwar Ganges Uttarakhand 21 Hyderabad Musi Telangana 22 Jabalpur Narmada Madhya Pradesh 23 Kanpur Ganges Uttar Pradesh 24 Kota Chambal Rajasthan 25 Jammu Tawi Jammu & Kashmir 26 Jaunpur Gomti Uttar Pradesh 27 Patna Ganges Bihar 28 Rajahmundry Godavari Andhra Pradesh 29 Srinagar Jhelum Jammu & Kashmir 30 Surat Tapi Gujarat 31 Varanasi Ganges Uttar Pradesh 32 Vijayawada Krishna Andhra Pradesh 33 Vadodara Vishwamitri Gujarat 1 Source – Wikipedia S.No. City River State 34 Mathura Yamuna Uttar Pradesh 35 Modasa Mazum Gujarat 36 Mirzapur Ganga Uttar Pradesh 37 Morbi Machchu Gujarat 38 Auraiya Yamuna Uttar Pradesh 39 Etawah Yamuna Uttar Pradesh 40 Bangalore Vrishabhavathi Karnataka 41 Farrukhabad Ganges Uttar Pradesh 42 Rangpo Teesta Sikkim 43 Rajkot Aji Gujarat 44 Gaya Falgu (Neeranjana) Bihar 45 Fatehgarh Ganges
    [Show full text]
  • World Bank Document
    Document of The World Bank Public Disclosure Authorized FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Report No: 20634 IMPLEMENTATIONCOMPLETION REPORT (23470) Public Disclosure Authorized ON A CREDIT IN THE AMOUNT OF SDR 48.1 MILLION (US$65 MILLION EQUIVALENT) TO THE GOVERNMENT OF NEPAL FORA POWER SECTOR EFFICIENCY PROJECT Public Disclosure Authorized June 27, 2000 Energy Sector Unit South Asia Sector This documenthas a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization. Public Disclosure Authorized CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (ExchangeRate EffectiveFebruary 1999) Currency Unit = Nepalese Rupees (NRs) NRs 62.00 = US$ 1.00 US$ 0.0161 = NRs 1.00 FISCAL YEAR July 16 - July 15 ABBREVIATIONSAND ACRONYMS ADB Asian Development Bank CIWEC Canadian International Water and Energy Consultants DCA Development Credit Agreement DHM Department of Hydrology and Meteorology DOR Department of Roads EA Environmental Assessment EdF Electricite de France EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EIRR Economic Internal Rate of Return EWS Early Warning System GLOF Glacier Lake Outburst Flood GOF Government of France GTZ The Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit GWh Gigawatt - hour HEP HydroelectricProject HMGN His Majesty's Government of Nepal HV High Voltage IDA Intemational Development Association KfW Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau KV Kilovolt KWh Kilowatt - hour MCMPP Marsyangdi Catchment Management Pilot Project MHDC Multipower Hydroelectric Development Corporation MHPP Marsyangdi Hydroelectric Power Project MOI Ministiy of Industry MOWR Ministry of Water Resources MW Megawatt NEA Nepal Electricity Authority NDF Nordic Development Fund OEES Office of Energy Efficiency Services O&M Operation & Maintenance PA Performance Agreement PSEP Power Sector Efficiency Project PSR Power Subsector Review ROR Rate of Return SAR Staff Appraisal Report SFR Self Financing Ratio S&R Screening & Ranking Vice President: TMiekoNishiomizu Country Director: Hans M.
    [Show full text]
  • Climate Change in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas
    Climate Change in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas The State of Current Knowledge Climate Change in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas The State of Current Knowledge Surender P. Singh Isabella Bassignana-Khadka Bhaskar Singh Karky Eklabya Sharma International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, Nepal, 2011 i Published by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development GPO Box 3226, Kathmandu, Nepal Copyright © 2011 International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) All rights reserved. Published 2011 ISBN 978 92 9115 220 9 (printed) 978 92 9115 221 6 (electronic) LCCN 2011-312015 Printed and bound in Nepal by Hill Side Press (P) Ltd., Kathmandu, Nepal Production team Greta Pennington Rana (Consultant editor) A Beatrice Murray (Consultant editor) Andrea Perlis (Senior editor) Punam Pradhan (Layout and design) Asha Kaji Thaku (Editorial assistant) Note This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit purposes without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement of the source is made. ICIMOD would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this publication as a source. No use of this publication may be made for resale or for any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior permission in writing from ICIMOD. The views and interpretations in this publication are those of the author(s). They are not attributable to ICIMOD and do not imply the expression of any opinion concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries, or the endorsement of any product. This publication is available in electronic form at www.icimod.org/publications Citation: Singh, SP; Bassignana-Khadka, I; Karky, BS; Sharma, E (2011) Climate change in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas: The state of current knowledge.
    [Show full text]
  • World's Most Endangered Primates
    Primates in Peril The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2016–2018 Edited by Christoph Schwitzer, Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands, Federica Chiozza, Elizabeth A. Williamson, Elizabeth J. Macfie, Janette Wallis and Alison Cotton Illustrations by Stephen D. Nash IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group (PSG) International Primatological Society (IPS) Conservation International (CI) Bristol Zoological Society (BZS) Published by: IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group (PSG), International Primatological Society (IPS), Conservation International (CI), Bristol Zoological Society (BZS) Copyright: ©2017 Conservation International All rights reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. Inquiries to the publisher should be directed to the following address: Russell A. Mittermeier, Chair, IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, Conservation International, 2011 Crystal Drive, Suite 500, Arlington, VA 22202, USA. Citation (report): Schwitzer, C., Mittermeier, R.A., Rylands, A.B., Chiozza, F., Williamson, E.A., Macfie, E.J., Wallis, J. and Cotton, A. (eds.). 2017. Primates in Peril: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2016–2018. IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group (PSG), International Primatological Society (IPS), Conservation International (CI), and Bristol Zoological Society, Arlington, VA. 99 pp. Citation (species): Salmona, J., Patel, E.R., Chikhi, L. and Banks, M.A. 2017. Propithecus perrieri (Lavauden, 1931). In: C. Schwitzer, R.A. Mittermeier, A.B. Rylands, F. Chiozza, E.A. Williamson, E.J. Macfie, J. Wallis and A. Cotton (eds.), Primates in Peril: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2016–2018, pp. 40-43. IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group (PSG), International Primatological Society (IPS), Conservation International (CI), and Bristol Zoological Society, Arlington, VA.
    [Show full text]
  • Elevation‐Dependent Thermal Regime and Dynamics of Frozen Ground in the Bayan Har Mountains, Northeastern Qinghai‐Tibet Plat
    Received: 14 December 2017 Revised: 20 September 2018 Accepted: 26 September 2018 DOI: 10.1002/ppp.1988 RESEARCH ARTICLE Elevation‐dependent thermal regime and dynamics of frozen ground in the Bayan Har Mountains, northeastern Qinghai‐ Tibet Plateau, southwest China Dongliang Luo1 | Huijun Jin1,2 | Xiaoying Jin1,3,4 | Ruixia He1 | Xiaoying Li1,3,4 | Reginald R. Muskett4 | Sergey S. Marchenko1,4 | Vladimir E. Romanovsky4 1 State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco‐ Abstract Environment and Resources, Chinese To investigate and monitor permafrost in the Bayan Har Mountains (BHM), north‐ Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China eastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, southwest China, 19 boreholes ranging from 20 to 2 School of Civil Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China 100 m in depth were drilled along an elevational transect (4,221–4,833 m a.s.l.) from 3 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, July to September 2010. Measurements from these boreholes demonstrate that Beijing, China ground temperatures at the depth of zero annual amplitude (TZAA) are generally higher 4 Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska −1 Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA than −2.0°C. The lapse rates of TZAA are 4 and 6 °C km , and the lower limits of per- Correspondence mafrost with TZAA < −1°C are approximately 4,650 and 4,750 m a.s.l. on the northern Dongliang Luo, State Key Laboratory of (near Yeniugou) and southern (near Qingshui'he) slopes, respectively. T changes Frozen Soil Engineering, Northwest Institute ZAA of Eco‐Environment and Resources, Chinese abruptly within short distances from −0.2 to +1.2°C near the northern lower limits Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China.
    [Show full text]