Climate change is affecting the hydrological system of Northern India, which is based on two main phenomena: the monsoon precipitation in summer and the growth and melt of the snow and ice cover in the Himalaya, also called the "Water Tower of Asia". Increasing greenhouse gases are expected to change these phenomena and, in particular, will have a profound impact on snow cover, glaciers and its related hydrology and water resources availability. |
| Especially the perennial rivers in the north: Ganga, Indus and Brahmaputra, are susceptible to climate change as they originate from the Himalayas. Snow and glacier melt run-off form a great part of the rivers’ flow.
Climate change is projected to have a short term and long term impact on the hydrological system. On the short term discharge of rivers in the north will increase due to the melting of snow and glaciers. On the long term the snow and glaciers will have melted for a great part and their contribution to the rivers’ flow will decrease. |
The principal aim of the EU FP7 HighNoon project (which is a compound word derived from high (high on the top of the Himalayas) and from noon of Monsoon, referring to the western film High Noon) is to assess the impact of Himalayan glaciers retreat and possible changes of the Indian summer monsoon on the spatial and temporal distribution of water resources in Northern India and to provide recommendations for appropriate and efficient response strategies that strengthen the cause for adaptation to hydrological extreme events. | |
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