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

这项提议将提供关于喜马拉雅季风东南部不丹王国过去、现在和未来冰川和气候变化的可靠信息，并有助于为决策者和减缓战略人员提供一个更有力的科学平台。了解应对气候变化的冰川退缩速度对于任何对未来行为的预测，进而为社会设计适应和缓解战略，都是至关重要的。然而，这一比率仍然没有得到很好的约束。不丹的福利与冰川动态有关，因为水力发电和农业灌溉是由冰川融化推动的。冰川融化和陡峭的地貌使冰川湖暴发洪水成为不丹及其喜马拉雅邻国社会的主要危险，而潜在的危险严重取决于现在和未来的冰川融化。这是一个综合的研究和教育项目，结合地貌学、地质年代学、古温度、冰川学和冰川建模，重建过去数千年的冰川和气候变化，并预测下个世纪喜马拉雅冰川的变化。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丰富的经验，其中包括一名主要在本科院校工作的女性初级教员和一名有特殊需求的理科硕士学生。这是一项美国-不丹双边研究和教育提案，不丹水产养殖服务部/经济部(DHMS)是不丹的官方合作伙伴，乌金·旺楚克保护与环境研究所(UWICE)是教育合作伙伴。不丹学生将接受地貌测绘(遥感和野外测绘)和树木年轮技术方面的培训。拉蒙特-多尔蒂地球天文台将接待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。

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.