Phys.org June 7, 2022
The Hindu Kush–Karakoram–Himalayan system, Asian water tower, named the Third Pole, is the largest global store of frozen water after the polar regions, providing a reliable water supply to almost 2 billion people. Marked atmospheric warming has changed the balance of Asian water tower and altered water resources in downstream countries. In a review article an international team of researchers (China, UK, the Netherlands, USA – Ohio State University, Austria) synthesized the observational evidence and model projections that describe an imbalance in the Asian water tower caused by accelerated transformation of ice and snow into liquid water. This phase change is associated with a south–north disparity due to the spatio-temporal interaction between the westerlies and the Indian monsoon. A corresponding spatial imbalance is exhibited by alterations in freshwater resources in endorheic or exorheic basins. Global warming is expected to amplify this imbalance, alleviating water scarcity in the Yellow and Yangtze River basins and increasing scarcity in the Indus and Amu Darya River basins. According to the authors accurate predictions of future water supply require the establishment of comprehensive monitoring stations in data-scarce regions and the development of advanced coupled atmosphere–cryosphere–hydrology models… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Projected changes in precipitation, glaciers, and river run-off in the Asian water tower. Credit: Nature Reviews Earth & Environment (2022)Â