Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2016

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Symbol A (Atmospheric and Hydrospheric Sciences) » A-CC Cryospheric Sciences & Cold District Environment

[A-CC20] Glaciology

Wed. May 25, 2016 1:45 PM - 3:15 PM 102 (1F)

Convener:*Tetsuo Ohata(Arctic Environment Research Center, National Institute of Polar Research), Masahiro Hori(Earth Observation Reseacrh Center, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), kazuyoshi suzuki(Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology), Shin Sugiyama(Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University), Chair:Takayuki Nuimura(Chiba Institute of Science)

1:45 PM - 2:00 PM

[ACC20-01] Attribution of inhomogeneous glacial fluctuation in High-Mountain Asia

*Akiko Sakai1, Koji Fujita1 (1.Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University)

Keywords:High Mountain Asia, glacier fluctuation, climate change, mass balance

Glacier shrinkage under global warming have significant contribution to global sea level rise. Particularly in Asia, water demand exceeds supply due to rapid population growth, with glacier meltwater being a crucial water resource in some river basins. Recent studies of Asian glaciers elucidated that Karakoram glaciers were slightly gaining mass while nearby Himalayan glaciers were rapidly losing mass. These different glacial behaviors have been attributed to one of two possible causes: inhomogeneity in recent climate change9-11 or differing glacial responses to climate change. We examined both the climate forcing and the response causes, specifically, we calculate the mass-balance sensitivity to temperature change in high-mountain Asia. Then, in support of the response cause, we find a strong correlation between observed glacier-surface-elevation changes and glacial mass-balance sensitivity. It suggests that spatial heterogeneity of climate change could not be the main cause of that in glacier mass change.