10-Feb-2022: New study suggests increase in warming in high altitude Himalayas due to water vapor

A recent study has shown that water vapour exhibits a positive radiative effect at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), suggesting an increase in overall warming in the High Altitude Himalayas due to it.

The precipitable water vapor (PWV) is one of the most rapidly varying components in the atmosphere and is mainly accumulated in the lower troposphere. Due to the large variability in space and time, mixing processes and contribution to a series of heterogeneous chemical reactions, as well as sparse measurement networks, especially in the Himalayan region, it is difficult to accurately quantify the climatic impact of PWV over space and time. Moreover, aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions over this region, which are one of the most climatic-sensitive regions, are poorly understood, apparently due to a lack of proper observational data.

The recent research led by Dr Umesh Chandra Dumka from Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital, an autonomous research institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) Govt. of India, showed that Precipitable Water Vapour (PWV) exhibits a positive radiative effect at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) in high altitude remote locations in the order of about 10 watts per square metre (W m-2) at Nainital (Altitude -2200m; Central Himalaya) and 7.4 W m-2 at Hanle (Altitude -4500m; western Trans Himalaya).

Team members from the National Observatory of Athens (NOA), Greece; Tohoku University, Japan; Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) and CSIR Fourth Paradigm Institute (CSIR-4PI), Bengaluru and Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Germany also contributed in the study. The research published in the Journal of Atmospheric Pollution Research, Elsevier shows that the atmospheric radiative effect due to PWV is about 3-4 times higher compared to aerosols, resulting in atmospheric heating rates of 0.94 and 0.96 K Day-1 at Nainital and Hanle, respectively. The results highlight the importance of PWV and aerosol radiative effects in the climate-sensitive Himalayan region.

The researchers assessed the combination of aerosols and water vapour radiative effects over the Himalayan range that is specifically important for regional climate and highlighted the importance of water vapour as a key greenhouse gas and climate forcing agent over the Himalayan region.

The team believes that this work will provide a comprehensive investigation of the combined impact of aerosols and water vapour on the radiation budget.

15-Dec-2021: Research on Himalayan Geology

Scientists of Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, while studying the glaciers in the upper Kali Ganga valley, Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, Himalaya, found that the 5 km long unnamed glacier (30.28089N- 80.69344E), covering an area of ~ 4 km2 in Kuthi Yankti valley (Tributary of Kali River), abruptly changed its main course and merged with an adjacent glacier named Sumzurkchanki, due to changes in climate and tectonic forcing sometime between the Last Glacial Maxima (19-24,000 years ago) and Holocene (10,000 years ago).

The Government encourages further research and study on the Himalayan region to find solutions to frequent natural calamities.

The government encourages research on the natural calamities in the Himalayan region by numerous research institutes, universities, IITs, IISc, etc. Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) through its National Centre for Seismology is involved in the research using the recorded earthquake data to understand various phenomena related to earthquake processes and seismic hazard assessment particularly for Himalayan region. The Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology has been pursuing research in understanding the causes and consequences of earthquakes, landslides and avalanches in the Himalaya with a view to provide mitigation measures.