Mismatch between the population and meltwater changes creates opportunities and risks for global glacier-fed basins

Xiao Cunde | Science Bulletin

Mismatch between the population and meltwater changes creates opportunities and risks for global glacier-fed basins
Su Bo, Xiao Cunde, Chen Deliang, Ying Xue, Huang Yi, Guo Rong, Zhao Hongyu, Chen Aifang, Che Yanjun
Science Bulletin
Published JAN 2022
DOI：10.1016/j.scib.2021.07.027

Abstract
Mountain glaciers are indispensable suppliers of freshwater for human sustenance in extensive cold and arid areas of the world . However, due to pronounced climate change over the last decades, the vast majority of the world’s mountains have seen a rapid shrinking of glaciers with profound impacts on streamflow regimes of the mountains themselves, as well as downstream areas. A wealth of studies have investigated the responses of glacier runoff to climate change and their impacts on streamflow at different scales, including single-glacier, glacierized mountain range, basin, regional, and even global scales. These studies depicted a general picture that glacier runoff is expected to continue to rise for a certain period of time as climate changes and glaciers retreat, but after a maximum (‘‘peak water”), the runoff will steadily decline. These glacio-hydrological changes have important implications for human society in the basins and beyond, as climate-related glacio-hydrological changes strongly influence regional socio-economic development. As such, understanding and predicting these changes are pivotal to sustainability. However, a global assessment of the consequences of the combined effects of glacier water resource (GWR) changes and population dynamics remains to be conducted. Integrating the recently available estimates of glacio-hydrological and population changes in an opportunity & risk framework, we aim at delivering a global assessment on the importance of GWR and the opportunities & risks associated with glacial meltwater changes and population dynamics.