Glaciers of the Himalayas

Page 95

Impacts on Mountain Water Availability   l  75

region are shown in map 6.2 (map 6.2 is accessible in the Nontechnical Summary, appendix A, at https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/35600). for the annual and monsoon periods. The largest temperature increases in the study area occur in the high mountain areas (60o–110o E and 25o–40o N). This finding is consistent with observations of elevation-dependent warming (Rangwala and Miller 2012). While the differences in precipitation levels vary spatially, they remain consistent between seasons. The largest increases occur in the Ganges delta area (72o–90o E and 25o–32o N), with maximum increases of around 4 millimeters per day during the monsoon. Precipitation is also projected to increase moderately in southern India (up to approximately 2 millimeters per day during the monsoon). The long-term average temperature in the region is higher by approximately 0.4o C in the RCP 4.5 (mitigation) compared to the RCP 4.5 (standard) scenario. However, the differences in long-term average temperature vary considerably between these scenarios, with the differences being smaller than the bounds of the confidence intervals. While uncertain, the projected differences are spatially coherent between seasons. The projected long-term average annual precipitation is similar between the RCP 4.5 (standard) and RCP 4.5 (mitigation) scenarios, with few locations showing differences outside of the confidence intervals. However, these localized patches are not spatially coherent across the seasons. Likewise, the differences in the range of long-term average monthly temperature between the RCP 4.5 (standard) and RCP 4.5 (mitigation) scenarios are small and fall within the confidence intervals for most areas in the region. Bangladesh, eastern India, and Myanmar are e­ xceptions, showing an increase of 0.3ºC in the range of long-term average monthly temperature for the RCP 4.5 (mitigation) scenario compared to the RCP 4.5 (standard) scenario (map 6.3, [map 6.3 is accessible in the Nontechnical Summary, appendix A, at https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/35600].).

Black Carbon Deposition in the Region The modeled BC deposition data used as an input to the CCHF model simulations were developed from simulations of the Weather Research and Forecasting coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model, as summarized in chapter 5 and detailed in Alvarado et al. (2018). The scenarios seek to capture the total wet and dry deposition of BC during the historic period and in the two future scenarios RCP 4.5 (standard) and RCP 4.5 (mitigation) that are consistent with aerosol projections in the respective cases. These depositions are used in the CCHF model to simulate the direct impacts of BC on snow and glacier surface albedo. As noted, there is more snow than glaciers in each of the upper basins, but BC gets covered by fresh snow and blends with the soil layer once all of the snow melts. In contrast, BC accumulates on the glacier surface over multiple seasons, with a longer-lasting and potentially more locally profound impact on melt.


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C.3 CCHF Performance during Validation for Each Climate Product

10min
pages 129-135

C.2 CCHF Performance during Calibration for Each Climate Product

2min
page 128

References

27min
pages 109-126

The Way Forward

2min
page 108

References

1min
pages 101-102

Black Carbon Deposition in the Region

2min
page 95

Implications of the Findings

11min
pages 103-107

Current HKHK Water Production

2min
page 92

Results

4min
pages 81-82

Hindu Kush Region, by Month, 2013

2min
pages 84-85

Black Carbon and Glacier Modeling to Date

2min
page 80

Black Carbon and Air Pollution

2min
page 78

Creating the Black Carbon Scenarios

5min
pages 66-67

CCHF Model: Linking Climate, Snow and Glaciers, and Water Resources

2min
page 69

Downscaling Climate in the Himalayas

2min
page 68

Framework (CCHF

1min
page 71

Climate Data

2min
page 64

4.2 Aspects of Climate Modeling

1min
page 65

4.1 Previous Analyses Related to the Current Research

2min
page 62

Overview

1min
page 61

References

4min
pages 58-60

Indus River Basin

2min
page 53

Notes

2min
page 57

Knowledge Gaps

2min
page 56

References

13min
pages 44-51

2.3 Impact of Aerosols on Regional Weather Patterns and Climate

2min
page 43

2.4 Average Annual Monsoon Precipitation in South Asia, 1981–2010

1min
page 41

1 Average Percentage of Annual Precipitation in South Asia, by Season 1981–2000 32

2min
page 23

Drivers of Glacial Change in South Asia

2min
page 35

Glacial Change

2min
page 31

References

1min
page 28

Implications of Glacial Change

2min
page 34

Economic Importance

1min
page 29

1.1 The Indus (Left), Ganges (Center), and Brahmaputra (Right) Basins in South Asia

1min
page 27
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