Glaciers Not Uniform in Facing Climate Change
09.11.2010 - Water & Oceans, Ice & Snow, Bi-polar
A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) conducted by Innsbruck glaciologists and climatologists from the Institute of Geography at the University of Innsbruck suggest that the contribution potential of glaciers in different mountainous regions to the water supply of populated areas varies by region. High-mountain communities are highly dependent on glacier melt water, although these communities have low population densities. However the impact becomes a lot more significant in the mid-latitudes, where populations are larger and rely on the same available water reservoir.
While this study follows up on the worldwide discussion of the impact of climate change on the availability of water in largely populated regions, the aim is to put greater focus on the significant regional differences to be taken into account regarding the problem of future water supply.
Basing themselves upon data from the World Glacier Inventory, global temperature and precipitation data and the Global Digital Elevation Model, the scientists investigated some of the major river basins of various glaciers in the Himalayas, the Andes, the Caucasus Mountains, Siberia, North America and New Zealand. They believe their data could serve as a basis for more accurate regional estimates of the impact of climate change on glaciers.
