@article{14659,
  abstract     = {Understanding the response of Himalayan glaciers to global warming is vital because of their role as a water source for the Asian subcontinent. However, great uncertainties still exist on the climate drivers of past and present glacier changes across scales. Here, we analyse continuous hourly climate station data from a glacierized elevation (Pyramid station, Mount Everest) since 1994 together with other ground observations and climate reanalysis. We show that a decrease in maximum air temperature and precipitation occurred during the last three decades at Pyramid in response to global warming. Reanalysis data suggest a broader occurrence of this effect in the glacierized areas of the Himalaya. We hypothesize that the counterintuitive cooling is caused by enhanced sensible heat exchange and the associated increase in glacier katabatic wind, which draws cool air downward from higher elevations. The stronger katabatic winds have also lowered the elevation of local wind convergence, thereby diminishing precipitation in glacial areas and negatively affecting glacier mass balance. This local cooling may have partially preserved glaciers from melting and could help protect the periglacial environment.},
  author       = {Salerno, Franco and Guyennon, Nicolas and Yang, Kun and Shaw, Thomas and Lin, Changgui and Colombo, Nicola and Romano, Emanuele and Gruber, Stephan and Bolch, Tobias and Alessandri, Andrea and Cristofanelli, Paolo and Putero, Davide and Diolaiuti, Guglielmina and Tartari, Gianni and Verza, Gianpietro and Thakuri, Sudeep and Balsamo, Gianpaolo and Miles, Evan S. and Pellicciotti, Francesca},
  issn         = {1752-0908},
  journal      = {Nature Geoscience},
  pages        = {1120--1127},
  publisher    = {Springer Nature},
  title        = {{Local cooling and drying induced by Himalayan glaciers under global warming}},
  doi          = {10.1038/s41561-023-01331-y},
  volume       = {16},
  year         = {2023},
}

@article{12593,
  abstract     = {Rock debris can accumulate on glacier surfaces and dramatically reduce glacier melt. The structure of a debris cover is unique to each glacier and sensitive to climate. Despite this, debris cover has been omitted from global glacier models and forecasts of their response to a changing climate. Fundamental to resolving these omissions is a global map of debris cover and an estimate of its future spatial evolution. Here we use Landsat imagery and a detailed correction to the Randolph Glacier Inventory to show that 7.3% of mountain glacier area is debris covered and over half of Earth’s debris is concentrated in three regions: Alaska (38.6% of total debris-covered area), Southwest Asia (12.6%) and Greenland (12.0%). We use a set of new metrics, which include stage, the current position of a glacier on its trajectory towards reaching its spatial carrying capacity of debris cover, to quantify the state of glaciers. Debris cover is present on 44% of Earth’s glaciers and prominent (>1.0 km2) on 15%. Of Earth’s glaciers, 20% have a substantial percentage of debris cover for which the net stage is 36% and the bulk of individual glaciers have evolved beyond an optimal moraine configuration favourable for debris-cover expansion. Use of this dataset in global-scale models will enable improved estimates of melt over 10.6% of the global glacier domain.},
  author       = {Herreid, Sam and Pellicciotti, Francesca},
  issn         = {1752-0908},
  journal      = {Nature Geoscience},
  keywords     = {General Earth and Planetary Sciences},
  number       = {9},
  pages        = {621--627},
  publisher    = {Springer Nature},
  title        = {{The state of rock debris covering Earth’s glaciers}},
  doi          = {10.1038/s41561-020-0615-0},
  volume       = {13},
  year         = {2020},
}

@article{12640,
  abstract     = {Greater Himalayan glaciers are retreating and losing mass at rates comparable to glaciers in other regions of the world1,2,3,4,5. Assessments of future changes and their associated hydrological impacts are scarce, oversimplify glacier dynamics or include a limited number of climate models6,7,8,9. Here, we use results from the latest ensemble of climate models in combination with a high-resolution glacio-hydrological model to assess the hydrological impact of climate change on two climatically contrasting watersheds in the Greater Himalaya, the Baltoro and Langtang watersheds that drain into the Indus and Ganges rivers, respectively. We show that the largest uncertainty in future runoff is a result of variations in projected precipitation between climate models. In both watersheds, strong, but highly variable, increases in future runoff are projected and, despite the different characteristics of the watersheds, their responses are surprisingly similar. In both cases, glaciers will recede but net glacier melt runoff is on a rising limb at least until 2050. In combination with a positive change in precipitation, water availability during this century is not likely to decline. We conclude that river basins that depend on monsoon rains and glacier melt will continue to sustain the increasing water demands expected in these areas10.},
  author       = {Immerzeel, W. W. and Pellicciotti, Francesca and Bierkens, M. F. P.},
  issn         = {1752-0908},
  journal      = {Nature Geoscience},
  keywords     = {General Earth and Planetary Sciences},
  number       = {9},
  pages        = {742--745},
  publisher    = {Springer Nature},
  title        = {{Rising river flows throughout the twenty-first century in two Himalayan glacierized watersheds}},
  doi          = {10.1038/ngeo1896},
  volume       = {6},
  year         = {2013},
}