47 / 2023-12-25 11:42:51

Warming-driven erosion and sediment transport in the Tibetan Plateau and other cold regions

climate change, sediment transport, erosion, glacier, permafrost, hydropower

The Tibetan Plateau and other cold regions now experiencing amplified climate change, glacier melt, and permafrost thaw. The accelerating glacier retreat and permafrost degradation are associated with frequent hazards including glacier collapses, rockfalls, landslides, debris flows and lake outburst floods from glacial lakes and landslide-dammed lakes. Greater amounts of sediment are mobilized, and river sediment loads are increasing.  For instance, the river sediment loads in the Tibetan Plateau have been increasing at a rate of 13% per decade since the 1950s and will likely double by 2050 under an extreme climate change scenario. Such increases in hazards and sediment supplies can be largely attributed to climate change and are affecting infrastructure, carbon cycle and livelihoods for billions of people. In this work, we give an overview of how modern climate change drives the erosion and sediment transport in the Tibetan Plateau as well as other cold regions. We also discuss the social-ecological implications of the warming-driven increases in hazards and sediment supply for hydropower, floods, water quality, and carbon cycle.