Quenching the thirst at the foot of the giants: the effect of climate change on glacier-derived water resources in high mountain regions

冰川水对许多山区集水区的社区和数百万生活在下游并依赖冰川水进行水力发电的人、灌溉（全世界68%的低地农业依赖于山区径流）和生活用水（包括饮用水）至关重要。由于“确保所有人获得用水”是联合国可持续发展目标之一，气候变化驱动的冰川融水减少问题是迫切和紧迫的，特别是在预计的气候变暖和山区冰川质量损失的背景下。在这种情况下，最终目标是为预测模型提供关键投入和试验场，必须考虑到气候驱动的高山地区冰川持续退缩的情况，这影响到数百万人的供水。确定冰川在过去对不同气候强迫的反应将为未来预测冰川对温度升高和降水变化的反应及其对融水的影响提供信息。该项目有三个目标，每一个目标都审查不同的时间尺度：㈠根据地貌测绘、冰川沉积物年代测定、古冰川平衡线高度提取和独立气候代用指标分析，重建全新世山区冰川对气候强迫的动态反应; ㈡详细的基于卫星的研究，研究过去40年来冰川的范围和变化，并结合气象站的气候记录和气候再分析数据进行分析;（三）根据缩小尺度的气候预测，评估未来山区冰川块损失和有关的融水径流，该项目将着重于两个主要地区，即秘鲁安第斯山脉中部和南部科迪勒拉山脉和印度喜马拉雅山脉的北方部分。这些干旱的高山环境迄今为止受到的关注相对较少，尽管它为包括利马在内的众多人口提供了水，利马有1 100万居民，这项研究将通过若干目标实现这些目标，其中包括遥感和实地测绘以及冰川地貌取样、地质年代学调查、气候分析和建模。最终，这项调查将提供气候变化对高山干旱地区冰川为当地居民提供的生命支持水资源的影响评估。在这个为期3.5年的项目中，候选人将接受QUADRAT提供的独特的可转移技能培训，包括五个实地课程，定量和高级技能，实习和特许管理学院证书的战略管理和领导。通过冰川学和气候学专家的监督以及其他具体培训机会，候选人将获得冰川学、地貌学、遥感和气候学方面的宝贵技能。这些技能将共同增强候选人（博士后）的职业机会。监督团队由阿伯丁大学冰冻圈和气候变化小组的Matteo Spagnolo和贝尔法斯特女王大学的Donal Mullan领导，成员包括冰川学家、气候学家和遥感专家。监督小组与秘鲁和印度同事之间的持续合作将为这项工作提供便利。

Glacier-derived water is essential to communities in many mountain catchments and to millions of people who live downstream and rely on it for hydropower generation; irrigation (68% of lowland agriculture worldwide depends on runoff from the mountains); and domestic water use, including potable drinking water. With 'ensuring access to water for all' being one of the United Nations sustainability goals, the issue of climate change driven reduction of glacier-derived meltwater is compelling and urgent, especially in the context of projected climate warming and mountain glacier mass loss.Within such scenario, and with the ultimate goal of providing crucial input to, and a testing ground for predictive models, it is essential to contextualise the ongoing climate-driven glacier retreat in high mountain regions, which is affecting water supply to millions of people. Identifying how glaciers have responded in the past to different climate forcing will inform future predictions of glacier response to increasing temperatures and changing precipitation, and its effect on meltwater. The project has three aims, each examining distinct temporal scales:(i) Reconstruction of Holocene mountain glacier dynamic response to climate forcing based on geomorphological mapping, dating of glacial deposits, extraction of the palaeo-glacier Equilibrium Line Altitudes (ELA), and analysis of independent climatic proxies;(ii) Detailed, satellite-based study of glaciers extent and change over the past ~40 years, analysed in relation to climatic records from meteorological stations and climate reanalysis data;(iii) Assessment of future mountain glacier mass losses and related meltwater runoff, based on downscaled climate projections.This project will focus on two main regions, the central and southern Cordillera of the Peruvian Andes and the northern sector of the Indian Himalaya. These arid, high mountain environments have received relatively little attention so far, despite providing water to large populations including Lima, with its 11 million inhabitants.The research will achieve the aims through a number of objectives which include remote sensing and fieldwork mapping and sampling of glacial landforms, geochronological investigations, climate analyses and modelling. Ultimately, this investigation will deliver an impact assessment of climate change on the life-supporting water resources that these glaciers in high-mountain arid regions provide to the population.Throughout this 3.5 year project, the candidate will receive a unique blend of transferrable-skill training provided by QUADRAT, including five field courses, quantitative and advanced skills, an internship and a Chartered Management Institute certificate in strategic management and leadership. Through the supervision by glaciology and climatology experts and other specific training opportunities, the candidate will gain invaluable skills in glaciology, geomorphology, remote sensing and climatology. Together, this skillset will enhance the candidate's (post-PhD) career opportunities.The supervisory team, led by Matteo Spagnolo at the Cryosphere and Climate Change Group of the University of Aberdeen and Donal Mullan from Queen's University Belfast, includes glaciologists, climatologists and remote sensing experts. The work will be facilitated by ongoing collaboration between the supervisory team and colleagues in Peru and India.