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;