亚洲水塔失衡与冰雪变化

Translated title of the contribution: Imbalance of the Asian Water Tower characterized by glacier and snow melt

Tan Dong Yao, Wei Cai Wang, Wei Yang, Guo Qing Zhang, Jian Cheng Shi, Guang Jian Wu, Jing Gao, Tao Che, Shi Yin Liu, Walter Immerzeel, Hua Biao Zhao, Sheng Hai Li, Mei Lin Zhu, Bai Qing Xu, Ning Lian Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The Asian Water Tower is the most important and vulnerable water tower in the world. Its most prominent feature is the glacier and snow processes. Climate change has led to a rapid reduction of solid water bodies such as glaciers and snow in the Asian Water Tower, while liquid water bodies such as lakes and rivers have significantly increased, resulting in an imbalance between solid and liquid phases. There is a spatial imbalance in the distribution of water resources, with an increase in water resources in the northern endorheic basins and a decrease in the southern exorheic basins. Glaciers are melting at an accelerated rate, with significant spatial differences between the southeast and northwest, showing severe glacial mass loss in the southeast and Tianshan regions, relatively minor losses in the northwest regions, and relative stability or advancement in the Pamir and West Kunlun regions. Snow cover and annual snow days have decreased, snowmelt is occurring earlier, and both maximum snow water equivalent and snowmelt are decreasing. In the future, research should be focused on the changes in glacier and snow processes in high-altitude areas, improving the spatiotemporal resolution of glacier and snow process models, strengthening research on future water resource changes under different scenarios, and proposing water security response strategies.

Translated title of the contributionImbalance of the Asian Water Tower characterized by glacier and snow melt
Original languageChinese (Traditional)
Pages (from-to)689-698
Number of pages10
JournalClimate Change Research
Volume20
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 National Climate Center. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Asian Water Tower imbalance
  • Glacier change
  • Snow cover change

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