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Mountain cryosphere provides fresh water and other ecosystem services to half of humanity
. The loss of mountain cryosphere due to global warming is already evident in many parts of the world, which has direct implications to people living in mountain areas and indirect implication to people living downstream of glaciated river basins. Despite the growing concerns, the relationship between cryosphere change and human society has yet to be assessed systematically. A better understanding of how cryosphere change affects human systems and human security would provide much needed support to the planning of global and regional actions to mitigate impacts and facilitate adaptation. This paper synthesizes the current evidence for and potential impacts of cryosphere change on water, energy, food, and the environment in different mountain regions in the world. The analysis reveals that the changes in the cryosphere and the associated environmental change has already impacted people living in high mountain areas and are likely to introduce new challenges for water, energy, and food security, and exacerbate ecosystem and environmental degradation in the future. The effects of cryospheric changes are also likely to extend to downstream river basins where glacier melt contributes significantly to dry season river flows and supports irrigation, fisheries, and navigation, as well as water supply to many big cities. Appropriate adaptive and mitigative measures are needed to prevent risks and uncertainties being further compounde
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Nepal’s predominantly rural population depends on the ecosystem services of heterogeneous mountainous landscapes that are degrading under changing climate and development pressures
. Invasive alien plants (IAPs) compound threats to ecosystem services including water resource security from mid-hill springs, though implications for Nepal’s water resources are under-researched. South Africa’s Working for Water (WfW) programme addresses linked policy priorities related to IAP management including water, biodiversity and employability. We use the STEEP (Social, Technological, Environmental, Economic, Political) framework to explore success criteria behind WfW and their potential translation into the geographically, culturally and politically different Nepali context, including local considerations at three sites in Kavrepalanchok district. An adapted WfW approach could potentially contribute to water, food, biodiversity, forest, soil, gender equity, community development and security outcomes in Nepal, delivering national and international policy priorities. Evidence from study sites suggests four priority IAPs – Lantana camara, Ageratina adenophora, Chromolaena odorata and Pinus roxburghii – of differing characteristics, extents of invasion and perceived impacts at selected sites requiring control. These initial observations warrant trial management of IAPs in a test area with monitoring to evaluate outcomes for water, food and livelihood security, with potential for subsequent regional or national roll-out of a management programme
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The expert consultation, financially supported by BMUB, intended to bring together soil experts from the entire HKH region to forge a common pathway for securing soil functions in the mountains
. Lessons from this consultation will be linked to ICIMOD’s work on mitigation, mountain resilience, and adaptation to climate change. Furthermore, ICIMOD has seized the opportunity to develop its expertise on mountain soils, an issue that is becoming more relevant throughout ICIMOD’s regional member countries
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Are our urban spaces growing thirsty by the day? What implications do unplanned urban expansion and climate change have on judicious accessibility to water resources among the multitudes who have made urban fringes their home in South Asia? A significant gap exists in current studies of adaptation and vulnerability to the vagaries of climate change that tend to focus on purely agrarian or urban contexts
. Addressing this lack, this volume documents and analyses the experiences of this urban periphery in three developing nations, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, in terms of water security and access, adaptation to climate change, and urban expansion. Cutting across disciplinary boundaries, and using a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods from natural and social sciences, the essays explore the drivers of vulnerability in four peri-urban sites Hyderabad and Gurgaon in India, Khulna in Bangladesh, and Kathmandu in Nepal and examine the cost-effectiveness of technological and institutional alternatives to build adaptive capacity. The essays explore how different groups of people, men and women, face differential vulnerabilities to water insecurity induced by urbanization and climate change and how they adapt through technological or institutional innovation
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This book pursues a comprehensive approach so as to arrive at a better understanding of the implications of climate change on sustainable development, focusing on the perspective of water
. Climate change is one of today’s most pressing global issues and will become increasingly important in the decades to come, as societies will feel its pervasive impacts in many aspects of their lives. Given that the majority of these climate change impacts will be felt through the medium of water, the book explores the interrelationships and inter-linkages between water, climate change and sustainable development
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The Himalayas, Hindu Kush, Karakorum mountains and the Tibetan Plateau make up the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region, an area that has more snow and ice resources than any other region outside of the Polar Regions (Fig
. 1). The HKH region extends 3500 km over all or part of eight countries from Afghanistan in the west to Myanmar in the east. About 200 million people live in the HKH mountains, while 1.3 billion people depend directly or indirectly on waters that originate in the mountains in 10 major river basins. These mountains are under threat from climate change and other socio-economic changes that will pose a challenge for Asia’s future. This chapter reviews the state of knowledge concerning the mountains water resources, draws out implications for downstream users, and recommends key actions to be taken
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Water and food security are the key challenges under climate change as both are highly vulnerable to continuously changing climatic patterns
. Studies have predicted that the average global temperature may increase by 1.4–5.8 °C and there would be substantial reduction in fresh water resources and agricultural yield by the end of the 21st century. Approximately 75% of the Himalayan glaciers are on retreat and will disappear by 2035. Moreover in Africa (Sub-Saharan Africa) by 2050 the rainfall could drop by 10%, which would reduce drainage by 17%. Majority of the fresh water resources has already been depleted and there is reduction in agricultural production globally with escalation in population and food demand. Some of the prominent climate change impacts are, growing deserts, and increase in the magnitude of floods and droughts. An extreme decline in crop yields in arid and semi arid areas globally has caused food shortages and a manifold increase in food inflation. Countries of Africa, Middle East, Arab and Asia have close economic ties with natural resource and climate-dependent sectors such as forestry, agriculture, water, and fisheries. This manuscript highlights groundwater recharge by utilization of wastewater using the Soil Aquifer Treatment (SAT) method in irrigation and the significance and methods of artificial recharge of groundwater. This paper also presents easily and economically feasible options to ensure water and food security under climate change and recommend formation of effective adaptation and mitigation polices and strategies to minimizing the impact of climate change on water resources and irrigation
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The 2011 Census of India produced some interesting facts about the process of urbanisation in India
. For the first time since Independence, the absolute increase in population is more in urban than in rural areas. The increase in urban areas has put pressure on the basic infrastructure, including access to water for both urban and periurban locations. Most Indian cities have formal water supply for only a few hours a day and only in limited areas. The question is – where are the remaining water requirements coming from? For much of India's ‘water history’, the focus has been on large-scale surface-water projects to provide access, focusing more on irrigation and neglecting sources within the city and the periurban areas. Over time an enormous informal groundwater market has arisen in several cities to bridge the demand–supply gap. This water demand is met through supplies of water through informal water markets. Water is sourced from the periurban regions, which are usually richer in surface water and groundwater. This paper focuses on the change process as witnessed by periurban areas with a case study of Hyderabad. This paper presents an overview of a trend that is leading to immense water insecurities due to a combination of issues
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Scientific evidence shows that most glaciers in South Asia's Hindu Kush Himalayan region are retreating, but the consequences for the region's water supply are unclear, this report finds
. The Hindu Kush Himalayan region is the location of several of Asia's great river systems, which provide water for drinking, irrigation, and other uses for about 1.5 billion people. Recent studies show that at lower elevations, glacial retreat is unlikely to cause significant changes in water availability over the next several decades, but other factors, including groundwater depletion and increasing human water use, could have a greater impact. Higher elevation areas could experience altered water flow in some river basins if current rates of glacial retreat continue, but shifts in the location, intensity, and variability of rain and snow due to climate change will likely have a greater impact on regional water supplies. Himalayan Glaciers: Climate Change, Water Resources, and Water Security makes recommendations and sets guidelines for the future of climate change and water security in the Himalayan Region. This report emphasizes that social changes, such as changing patterns of water use and water management decisions, are likely to have at least as much of an impact on water demand as environmental factors do on water supply. Water scarcity will likely affect the rural and urban poor most severely, as these groups have the least capacity to move to new locations as needed. It is predicted that the region will become increasingly urbanized as cities expand to absorb migrants in search of economic opportunities. As living standards and populations rise, water use will likely increase-for example, as more people have diets rich in meat, more water will be needed for agricultural use. The effects of future climate change could further exacerbate water stress. Himalayan Glaciers: Climate Change, Water Resources, and Water Security explains that changes in the availability of water resources could play an increasing role in political tensions, especially if existing water management institutions do not better account for the social, economic, and ecological complexities of the region. To effectively respond to the effects of climate change, water management systems will need to take into account the social, economic, and ecological complexities of the region. This means it will be important to expand research and monitoring programs to gather more detailed, consistent, and accurate data on demographics, water supply, demand, and scarcity
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