The effect of climate change on the fate of glaciers in the Karakoram, Himalaya

• Author / Creator

  Janes, Tamara Joleen

• High-resolution regional climate simulations of the Karakoram, Himalaya have been performed for investigation into the atmospheric dynamics in this region, and their role in the Karakoram’s snowfall accumulation and glacial evolution. It has been seen through a combination of field measurements and satellite observations that a large number of glaciers in this region are static or advancing whilst other glaciers in the central and eastern Himalaya, as well as around the world, are nearly all retreating. By performing time slice calculations for the Karakoram region through the 21st century, it is found that, despite region wide simulated temperature changes, the highly elevated regions of the Karakoram mountain range experience positive snow mass balance through the 21st century. This result arises from a strong positive correlation between snow mass balance and simulated increases in regional precipitation, which outweighs the negative correlation between snow mass balance and simulated increases in temperature.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Climate change
  • Himalaya
  • Glacier
  • CO2
  • Modelling

• Graduation date

  Fall 2010

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R36M0X

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.