TITLE:
Himalayan Warming and Climate Change in India
AUTHORS:
Vadlamudi Brahmananda Rao, Sergio Henrique Franchito, Renato Orrú Pedroso Gerólamo, Emanuel Giarolla, Surireddi Satyavenkata Venkata Siva Ramakrishna, Bodda Ravi Srinivasa Rao, Chennu Vankateswara Naidu
KEYWORDS:
Himalayan Glaciers, Global Warming, Floods in India, Malaria in India, IPCC AR4 Model, Köppen Climates
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Climate Change,
Vol.5 No.4,
November
28,
2016
ABSTRACT: Recent studies showed that the Himalayan glaciers are reducing alarmingly. This is attributed to global warming. Since the melt water of Himalayan glaciers and snow is the principal source of water for several rivers, a decrease of this source is a calamity for the large fraction of global population living in nearby regions such as India. In Asia for the 60% global population only 36% of global water is available. Any further decrease of this vital necessity makes the very existence of billions of people doubtful. Here we show, using both observations and one IPCC-AR4 model with high horizontal resolution, that the Himalayan region in fact underwent a maximum warming of 2.5°C from 1950 to 1999 and would reach the highest temperature rise of 9°C in 2100. Temperature and rainfall variations determine a simple climate classification proposed by Köppen. We show changes that occur in climate and biosphere using this classification. Also we discussed the impact of warming and resulting changes in Köppen climates on the floods and malaria in India.