Predictions Changes Of Glacier Mass Balance -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discus About The Predictions Changes Of Glacier Mass Balance? Answer: Introducation The global warming has led to both drought and flooding events in Nepal. The production of the greenhouse gases in Nepal results from agricultural and forestry activities. Being a mountainous and developing country, Nepal has greatly experienced the effects of global warming (Ebi, Woodruff, Von Hildebrand Corvalan 2007). Global warming has resulted to effects such as heavy flooding, landslides, soil erosion and droughts. Nepal has high altitude and latitude which makes it experience high temperatures. One of the major indicators of the presence of global warming is the increase of temperature. From 1977 to 1994, the mean annual maximum temperature in Nepal increased by 0.06 degrees Celsius. Currently, the temperature increase has changed and a change of 0.5 degree Celsius per decade is being experienced due to global warming effect. This temperature increase is too high compared to other developing countries. Therefore, the historical temperature change is a key indicator that globa l warming has greatly affected Nepal from the 1994 (Mool, Bajracharya and Joshi 2001). In addition, in order to track the history of the global warming in Nepal, it is important to look at the changes in the precipitation levels. Unevenly distribution is one of the key aspects which are being experienced in the country. Unlike before, even rainfall was the norm in Nepal. More droughts are becoming more regular although the country is mountainous. In addition, the snow melting and glaciers is other indicator which can be used to show the history of global warming. Khumbu glaciers have been experienced in the past in Nepal. But since 1953, the glaciers have been able to retreat by more than 100m annually (CBS 2006). Failure to take actions against global warming, snow and ice will melt and studies indicate that by 2035, in Nepal snow and ice in mountains will be no more. Moreover, due to snow and glacier melting, glacial lakes outburst flooding (GLOF) have been experienced. In the past, GLOF have never been experienced but the increase of global warming has resulted to increase of the melting and leading to the outburst of the lakes. From the satellites analysis, about five lakes were able to burst between 1977 and 1998. The flooding from the lakes was able to affect areas as far as 100 kilometers from the lakes. Some of the historical glacieal lakes which were able to burst include Dudh Koshi glacial lake in 1977, the Zhangzha ngbo in 1981, Chhubung lake in 1991, Dudh Koshi in 1887, Sabai Tsho lake in 1998 and Kawari glacial lake in 2003 (Ageta, Kadota 1992). Researchers also project that close to 20 glaciers are likely to burst out in the next 5 to 10 years if action on global warming are not taken. In addition, ecological and biophysical impacts can be used to explain the history of global warming in Nepal. Damages of forests and agricultural lands due to flooding are some of the past events which have been experienced when glacial lakes burst out (Ageta, Kadota 1992). Soil properties are affected since debris is deposited downstream when flooding occurs. For instance, the discharge on the outburst of Lake Dudh Koshi in 1995 was so high causing the monsoon flooding. References Ageta, Y. Kadota, T. (1992) Predictions of Changes of Glacier Mass Balance in the Nepal Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau: A Case Study of Air Temperature Increase for Three Glaciers. Annals of Glaciology, 16: 8994 CBS (2006) Environmental Statistics of Nepal. Kathmandu, Nepal. San Diego Academic Press. Ebi, K.L., Woodruff, R., Von Hildebrand, A. Corvalan, C. (2007) Climate Change?related Health Impacts in the Hindu KushHimalayas. EcoHealth, 4: 264?270. Mool, PK; Bajracharya, SR and Joshi, SP (2001) Inventory of Glaciers, glacial lakes, glacial lake outburst floods monitoring and early warning system in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan region, Nepal. Kathmandu, Nepal: ICIMOD. London: Business Education Publishers Limited.