"The Environmental and Social Consequences of Glacial Decline: Why Flatlanders Need to Care about High-Altitude Changes"

A few speakers from The Mountain Institute, along with panelists from ClimateWire magazine, USAID, and Center for Naval Analysis (CNA) met together at the Woodrow Wilson Center last Wednesday to discuss the consequences of melting glaciers, specifically in the Himalayan region.  Many of them had just recently been on expeditions to the Himalayas to study glaciers and meet with the local population.

Global warming will cause glaciers to melt much more faster and more often.  As glaciers retreat, they leave behind glacial lakes.  With the onset of glacier melt, floods will occur from ice avalanches falling from glaciers into glacial lakes.  These glacial lakes will then overflow over terminal moraines and cause flooding, called “outburst floods.”  These glacial lakes, which have the potential to cause outburst floods are named dangerous lakes.  There are about 400 marked dangerous lakes in the Himalayas, although this number is hard to calculate accurately.  As global warming continues, people must learn how to adapt or control and manage these dangerous lakes.  Historically it has been recorded that during periods of climate warming, glacial lake outbursts are more common.  Populations especially in the Andes and Himalayas will be at risk. 

The Andes government has already “turned a liability into an asset” by making tunnels for canals from the glacial lakes for use for hydropower and irrigation.  This is an example to follow for the Himalaya region. 

Besides glacial outbursts, there are other problems with melting glaciers.  People in the glacial areas use glaciers as reservoirs for fresh water – however in areas such as the Tibetan plateau and in Bhutan, land use is increasingly intense as deforestation and overgrazing occurs, which leaves little topsoil, so after the rainy season, or glacial melt, all the water runs off and floods the area.

An interesting point mentioned during the panel was how predictions can often times be exaggerated.  This is not necessarily a bad thing though since it leads to people taking action.  Unfortunately I do not remember the specifics, but an example one of the speakers gave was how someone predicted all forests in Ecuador will disappear within 25 years.  However, 25 years later, Ecuador had even MORE forest-cover than previously.  This is because people took action in planting trees and protecting the forests, after predictions looked dire. 

An important focus of the panel was how significant local knowledge is in thinking of solutions or way to adapt to the increasing possibility of glacial outbursts, and climate change in the glacial regions.  In the Andes, local people already have seeds for hundreds of varieties of potatoes for different possible changes in climate.  As stated earlier, the Andes government has already tried to make the travesty of melting glaciers into a benefit by making tunnels from the glacial lakes flow into canals for hydropower and irrigation purposes.  Hopefully the Himalayan people will also be able to adapt to the new glacial environment.  Many of the panel members had been on expeditions to the Himalayan glaciers.  They suggest a mixture of natural and social scientists along with local people in thinking of adaption and mitigation solutions to the melting glaciers and problems they will create.

Liz