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Climate science

The future of Asia's glaciers

Nature volume 549, pages 166–167 (2017)Cite this article

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Glaciers in the high mountains of Asia are a crucial water resource, but are at risk from global warming. Modelling suggests that the glaciers will shed mass in direct proportion to the warming to which they are exposed. See Letter p.257

The 2015 Paris climate agreement aspires to limit the average global temperature rise to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels by the end of this century (see go.nature.com/2efxikg). Intensive work is under way to determine what return we would get for the formidable effort required to achieve this goal. On page 257, Kraaijenbrink et al.1 contribute to this work by modelling glaciers in the high mountains of Asia (HMA) and showing how these glaciers respond to different levels of warming. The authors demonstrate that even if the 1.5 °C target is met, about one-third of the present-day mass of HMA glaciers will be lost by the end of this century. The work could have major consequences for communities in the region that depend on glacial meltwater for domestic use, hydropower and irrigation.

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Figure 1: Ngozumpa Glacier.

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Figure 2: Future mass loss of glaciers in the high mountains of Asia (HMA).

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Department of Geography, Trent University, Peterborough, K9L 0G2, Ontario, Canada

    J. Graham Cogley

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  1. J. Graham Cogley
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Correspondence to J. Graham Cogley.

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Cogley, J. The future of Asia's glaciers. Nature 549, 166–167 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/549166a

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