Collaborative Research: Climate and Glacier change in Bhutan: the last millennia, present and future

合作研究：不丹的气候和冰川变化：过去的千年、现在和未来

• 批准号: 1304351
• 负责人: Joerg Schaefer
• 金额: $ 33.31万
• 依托单位: Columbia University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-01 至 2017-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1304351&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Climate; Glacier; change

This proposal will provide robust information about past, present and future glacier and climate change in the Kingdom of Bhutan, in the southeastern monsoonal Himalayas, and contribute to a more robust scientific platform for decision makers and mitigation strategists. Knowing the rate of glacier retreat in response to climate change is fundamental for any prediction of future behavior and in turn to design adaption and mitigation strategies for societies. However, this rate remains poorly constrained. Bhutan's welfare is linked to glacier dynamics because hydropower generation and agricultural irrigation are fueled by glacier melt. Melting glaciers and the steep relief have made glacial lake outburst floods a prime hazard for the societies of Bhutan and its Himalayan neighbors, and the hazard potential critically depends on current and future glacier melt.This is an integrated research and education project, combining geomorphology, geochronology, paleo-thermometry, glaciology, and glacier modeling to reconstruct glacier and climate change over the last millennia, and to predict Himalayan glacier change over the next century. This is a multi-disciplinary team of experts with broad experience in Himalayan glacier and climate problems, including a female junior faculty at a primarily undergraduate institution and a special-needs MS student. This is a US-Bhutan bilateral research and educational proposal, with the Department of Hydromet Services/Ministry of Economic Affairs (DHMS) as the official Bhutanese collaborator, and with the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environment (UWICE) as the educational partner. Bhutanese students will train in geomorphic mapping (remote and field based) and tree-ring techniques. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory will host UWICE students and DHMS and Columbia University's Earth Institute will host UWICE scientists.

该提案将提供有关不丹王国喜马拉雅山脉东南部季风地区过去、现在和未来冰川和气候变化的可靠信息，并为决策者和减缓战略家提供一个更可靠的科学平台。了解冰川退缩对气候变化的反应速度是预测未来行为的基础，反过来也是为社会设计适应和减缓战略的基础。然而，这一比率仍然没有受到很好的限制。不丹的福利与冰川动态有关，因为水力发电和农业灌溉都是由冰川融化推动的。冰川融化和陡峭的地形使冰湖溃决洪水成为不丹及其喜马拉雅邻国社会的主要危险，而潜在的危险主要取决于当前和未来的冰川融化。这是一个综合研究和教育项目，结合地貌学，地质年代学，古测温学，冰川学和冰川建模，重建过去一千年的冰川和气候变化，并预测喜马拉雅冰川在下个世纪的变化。这是一个多学科的专家团队，在喜马拉雅冰川和气候问题方面拥有广泛的经验，包括一个主要是本科院校的女初级教师和一个特殊需要的MS学生。这是一项美国-不丹双边研究和教育提案，水文服务部/经济事务部（DHMS）作为不丹官方合作伙伴，Ugyen Wangchuck保护与环境研究所（UWICE）作为教育合作伙伴。不丹学生将接受地貌制图（远程和实地）和树木年轮技术培训。拉蒙特-多尔蒂地球观测站将接待UWICE的学生，DHMS和哥伦比亚大学的地球研究所将接待UWICE的科学家。