CNH: Collaborative Research: Hydrologic Transformation and Human Resilience to Climate Change in the Peruvian Andes

气候变化和冰川加速消退正在影响秘鲁安第斯山脉的水循环和水资源的未来。 在热带冰川化程度最高的山脉-布兰卡山脉，该地区的自然和社会系统非常依赖冰川水资源，被认为是世界上最容易受到与冰川有关的水资源紧张影响的地区之一。 这一跨学科和合作研究项目将评估安第斯山脉正在出现的新的淡水治理系统，以及冰川动态如何在迅速消退时改变融水速率。 该研究将通过研究冰川衰退对下游流域的综合影响，生计系统的恢复力以及经济变化和水治理变化是水文，生态和社会转型因素的方式，对热带高地冰川衰退的自然和人类后果产生新的见解。这项研究还将产生新的水文模型，并得出冰川水动力学的定量估计。随着冰川在布兰卡山脉加速消退，安第斯水文系统的急剧变化对安第斯社会构成重大挑战。 该项目的数据和观测结果将为水资源政策制定者、全球变化专家、发展实践者和研究化学风化和物理沉积等相关主题的科学家提供信息。 在研究科迪勒拉布兰卡的气候-冰川-水-社会动态时，这项研究将为城市居民、工业、农民和政策制定者提供关键信息，为适应战略和应对全球气候变化提供信息。 该项目的组成部分是一个跨文化教育和外联计划，将提高认识，告知政策管理人员，加强机构伙伴关系，并在本科和研究生两个层次教育下一代跨学科科学家。

Climate change and accelerating glacier recession is affecting the water cycle and the future of water resources in the Peruvian Andes. In the Cordillera Blanca, the most glacierized mountain range in the tropics, the natural and social systems of the region are very dependent on glacial water resources and it is considered to be one of the most vulnerable to glacier-related water stress in the world. This interdisciplinary and collaborative research project will evaluate the new system of freshwater governance that is emerging in the Andes and how glacial dynamics are transforming melt water rates as they rapidly recede. The research will generate new insights into the coupled natural and human consequences of glacial recession in the tropical highlands by examining the combined effects of glacier recession on downstream watersheds, the resilience of livelihood systems and the ways in which economic change and shifting water governance are factors in this hydrologic, ecological, and social transformation. The research will also generate new hydrologic models and derive quantitative estimates of glacial water dynamics. As glacier recession is accelerating in the Cordillera Blanca, dramatic changes in the Andean hydrologic regime pose significant challenges to Andean society. Data and observations from the project will inform water resource policy makers, global change specialists, development practitioners and scientists who study co-related topics such as chemical weathering and physical sedimentation. In examining of climate-glacier-water-society dynamics in the Cordillera Blanca, this research will provide critical information to urban residents, industries, farmers, and policymakers that will inform adaptive strategies and responses to global climate change. Integral to the project is a cross-cultural education and outreach plan that will increase awareness, inform policy managers, strengthen institutional partnerships, and educate the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists at both the undergraduate and graduate level.