Back to news
14 Dec 2015 | Press releases

Glaciers reveal mountain precipitation is twice as high-Himalayan snowfall underestimated

2 mins Read

70% Complete

The amount of snow and rain in the Himalaya is about twice as high as commonly assumed. Research in the Indus basin by scientists from Utrecht University, FutureWater and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) led to the discovery. These findings have important bearing for water management and climate change impact assessments.

The Himalayas and adjacent mountain ranges are an important source of water for more than 25% of the global population. However, it is unknown how much snow and rain falls in those vast mountain ranges, because of the lack of observations and the inaccessibility of the terrain. Understanding how much water is available in the source areas of Asia’s large river is of crucial importance.

Let the glaciers tell the story
“The upper Indus is supposedly very dry, yet the largest glaciers outside the Polar Regions are located in the upper Indus and that seemed contradicting and gave us the idea for this study“, explains Walter Immerzeel of Utrecht University and visiting scientist at ICIMOD, who led the study. “We calculated how much precipitation is required to sustain those large glaciers and the results were spectacular. In the most extreme case a more than tenfold amount of snow is required than what was previously thought”. In order to derive this information the researchers combined satellite observations, a computer model and observations from the ground.

The rivers confirm the findings
“In the absence of snow and rain measurements at high altitude in the Indus we needed another way to confirm our findings” says Immerzeel. “We use observations of river flow and the results confirmed that the amount of water in the rivers can only be explained if the amount of snow and rain is as high as we estimated”.

Impact for water management
The Indus basin irrigation scheme is the largest in the world and it is fed primarily by melt water. “Since so much of the food production in the Indus depends on glaciers and snow, this shows again how sensitive this area is to climate change”, says Marc Bierkens, professor of Hydrology at Utrecht University. “Our findings will have important bearing on climate change impact studies and water management in this important transboundary river basin.”

Publication
Immerzeel, W. W., Wanders, N., Lutz, A. F., Shea, J. M. & Bierkens, M. F. P. Reconciling high altitude precipitation with glacier mass balances and runoff. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 12, 4755–4784 (2015). doi: 10.5194/hess-19-4673-2015

For more information contact:
Utrecht University

Dr W.W. Immerzeel, Assistant Professor
Utrecht University, Faculty of Geosciences
Tel: +31302533888 Cell:+31681013731
E-mail: w.w.immerzeel@uu.nl

FutureWater

Arthur Lutz, Hydrologist
Tel +31 6 19687612, E-mail: a.lutz@futurewater.nl

ICIMOD

Dr Joseph Michael Shea
Glacier Hydrologist
E-mail: joseph.shea@icimod.org

Nira Gurung
Senior Communications Officer, ICIMOD
Tel +977-1-5003222 Fax +977-1-5003277
E-mail: Nira.Gurung@icimod.org

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

Related contents

Continue exploring this topic

19 Jun 2016 Press releases
Knowledge forum calls for strengthened regional collaboration to support inclusive climate resilience in the Himalayan and downstream region

[caption id="attachment_7229" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Panelists at the two-day regional 'Knowledge Forum on Climate ...

4 Feb 2025 Press releases
New scientific study confirms climate change played key role in deadly 2023 lake outburst in Sikkim

Key findings: Moraine instability: An unstable section of the lateral moraine had been moving at velocity exceeding 15 meters ...

12 Dec 2018 Press releases
Koshi DRR knowledge hub to strengthen transboundary collaboration

At the launch of the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP) meeting, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for greater ...

18 Feb 2016 Press releases
Towards finalisation of the Renewable Natural Resources (RNR) marketing policy of Bhutan 2016

‘The Government of Bhutan would like to transform Bhutanese agriculture from subsistence ...

14 Aug 2024 Press releases
Urgent action needed to address South Asia’s air pollution health emergency

Kathmandu-headquartered regional organisation the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has partnered with US-based Health Effects Institute (HEI), to ...

16 May 2023 Media Advisory
特强气旋风暴“摩卡” 将在数小时后毁灭性登陆缅甸和孟加拉

Read in english   特强气旋风暴“摩卡”距孟加拉和缅甸海岸登陆还有数小时的路程。对世界上最大的难民营 科克斯巴扎尔(Cox’s Bazar)以及 缅甸若开邦 (Rakhine)国内流离失所者营地的潜在影响尤其令人担忧,在那里估计有 600 ...

21 Jun 2024 Press releases
Development Alternatives and ICIMOD forge long-term partnership to build climate-resilient Hindu Kush Himalaya

New Delhi, India/ Kathmandu, Nepal – 21 June 2024 The impacts of climate change are increasingly being felt across the Hindu ...

12 Nov 2021 HKH2Glasgow
The time to act is now: There are mountains of opportunity for climate action in the HKH

9 November 2021, Glasgow, Scotland, UK In a high-level event at the ongoing 26th session of the Conference of Parties (COP26) of ...