From global change to regional response: Integrating global and regional climate model simulations with alpine glacier mass balance and downstream hydrology

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The impact of future climate change on glaciated regions of the world (both high altitude and high latitude) has important ramifications for the availability of freshwater. Sectors highly dependent on sustained and robust levels of glacial/snow meltwater during the summer melt season include agriculture, hydroelectric power production, and public availability of freshwater. Other related factors dependent on Earth’s glaciers include global sea level, the geopolitics of trans-border river flows, and the dangers of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs). In certain regions of the world (for example, the countries spanned by the Himalaya) glacial meltwater is the primary source of freshwater yet GLOFs have been on the increase in the Himalaya, the Alps, and the Andes, killing thousands of people and causing millions of dollars in damage to settlements, infrastructure, and livestock. I plan to focus the research outlined below on two sensitive regions of the globe: western Canada (British Columbia and Alberta) and the Himalaya (Pakistan, India, and Nepal).