Water availability on the Third Pole: A review

Fan Zhang, Sahadeep Thapa, Walter Immerzeel, Hongbo Zhang*, Arthur Lutz

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

The Third Pole is the headwater region for Asian major rivers providing water for millions of people inside and around. Driven by rainfall and snowfall with large spatial and temporal variation in their amount, water availability reviewed here is buffered by snow, glaciers, groundwater and springs. Most glaciers have been losing mass contributing to annual excess discharge. Significant depletions of groundwater and drying up of many springs are observed in some areas of the region. Summary of runoff components across the region shows rainfall is the major contributor, followed by snow and glacier melt, though their relative contribution varies among basins. Modelling studies project a changing seasonality of river runoff, increased extremes and a high variability among the river basins.

Original languageEnglish
Article number100033
Pages (from-to)100077-100077
JournalWater Security
Volume7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2019

Keywords

  • Climate change
  • Glaciers
  • Precipitation
  • Snow
  • Third Pole
  • Water availability

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