Articles | Volume 19, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4113-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4113-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Will landscape responses reduce glacier sensitivity to climate change in High Mountain Asia?
Stephan Harrison
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
College of Environment, Science and Economy, Exeter University, Exeter, UK
Adina Racoviteanu
Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, IGE – 38400 Saint Martin d'Hères, France
Sarah Shannon
Bristol Glaciology Centre, Department of Geographical Science, University Road, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1SS, UK
Darren Jones
College of Environment, Science and Economy, Exeter University, Exeter, UK
Karen Anderson
Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9EZ, UK
Neil Glasser
Centre for Glaciology, Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Wales SY23 3DB, UK
Jasper Knight
School of Geography, Archaeology & Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa
Anna Ranger
College of Environment, Science and Economy, Exeter University, Exeter, UK
Arindan Mandal
Interdisciplinary Centre for Water Research, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 560012, India
Bramha Dutt Vishwakarma
Interdisciplinary Centre for Water Research, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 560012, India
Jeffrey S. Kargel
Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85742 USA
Dan Shugar
Department of Earth, Energy, and Environment, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada
Umesh Haritashya
Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH 45458, USA
Sustainability Program, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH 45458, USA
Dongfeng Li
Key Laboratory for Water and Sediment Sciences, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Aristeidis Koutroulis
School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Chania 73100, Greece
Klaus Wyser
Rossby Centre, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, Norrköping 60176, Sweden
Sam Inglis
ADM Capital Foundation, Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong SAR, China
Data sets
Inventory of dated moraines in the Himalaya to support: Harrison S et al. Will landscape responses reduce glacier sensitivity to climate change in High Mountain Asia? The Cryosphere, egusphere-2024-4033 Stephan Harrison https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15828526
Rock glaciers in the Himalaya A. Racoviteanu et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11237094
Short summary
Climate change is leading to a global recession of mountain glaciers, and numerical modelling suggests that this will result in the rapid disappearance of many glaciers, impacting water supplies. However, an alternative scenario suggests that increased rock fall and debris flows to valley bottoms will cover glaciers with thick rock debris, slowing melting and transforming glaciers into rock–ice mixtures called rock glaciers. This paper explores these scenarios.
Climate change is leading to a global recession of mountain glaciers, and numerical modelling...