High Mountain Asia hydropower systems threatened by climate-driven landscape instability

Li，Dongfeng1; Lu，Xixi1; Walling，Desmond E.2; Zhang，Ting1; Steiner，Jakob F.3; Wasson，Robert J.4,5; Harrison，Stephan6; Nepal，Santosh3,7; Nie，Yong8; Immerzeel，Walter W.9; Shugar，Dan H.10; Koppes，Michèle11; Lane，Stuart12; Zeng，Zhenzhong13; Sun，Xiaofei1,14; Yegorov，Alexandr15,16; Bolch，Tobias17

2022-07-01

10.1038/s41561-022-00953-y

Nature Geoscience   Impact Factor & Quartile

1752-0894

1752-0908

Global warming-induced melting and thawing of the cryosphere are severely altering the volume and timing of water supplied from High Mountain Asia, adversely affecting downstream food and energy systems that are relied on by billions of people. The construction of more reservoirs designed to regulate streamflow and produce hydropower is a critical part of strategies for adapting to these changes. However, these projects are vulnerable to a complex set of interacting processes that are destabilizing landscapes throughout the region. Ranging in severity and the pace of change, these processes include glacial retreat and detachments, permafrost thaw and associated landslides, rock–ice avalanches, debris flows and outburst floods from glacial lakes and landslide-dammed lakes. The result is large amounts of sediment being mobilized that can fill up reservoirs, cause dam failure and degrade power turbines. Here we recommend forward-looking design and maintenance measures and sustainable sediment management solutions that can help transition towards climate change-resilient dams and reservoirs in High Mountain Asia, in large part based on improved monitoring and prediction of compound and cascading hazards.

SCI

English

NI Journal Papers

Others

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada[04207-202];National Outstanding Youth Science Fund Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China[42171086];H2020 European Research Council[676819];Ministry of Education - Singapore[R-109-000-273-112];

WOS:000814973200002

2-s2.0-85132560561

Scopus

1.Department of Geography,National University of Singapore,Kent Ridge,Singapore
2.Department of Geography,College of Life and Environmental Sciences,University of Exeter,Exeter,United Kingdom
3.International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development,Kathmandu,Nepal
4.College of Science and Engineering,James Cook University,Cairns,Australia
5.Fenner School of Environment and Society,Australian National University,Canberra,Australia
6.College of Life and Environmental Sciences,University of Exeter,Penryn,United Kingdom
7.International Water Management Institute (IWMI),Nepal Office,Kathmandu,Nepal
8.Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Chengdu,China
9.Faculty of Geosciences,Department of Physical Geography,Utrecht University,Utrecht,Netherlands
10.Water,Sediment,Hazards,and Earth-surface Dynamics (waterSHED) Lab,Department of Geoscience,University of Calgary,Calgary,Canada
11.Department of Geography,University of British Columbia,Vancouver,Canada
12.Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics,University of Lausanne,Lausanne,Switzerland
13.School of Environmental Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,China
14.Faculty of Geosciences and Environmental Engineering,Southwest Jiaotong University,Chengdu,China
15.Institute of Geography and Water Security,Almaty,Kazakhstan
16.Central Asian Regional Glaciological Center as a category II under the auspieces of UNESCO,Almaty,Kazakhstan
17.School of Geography and Sustainable Development,University of St Andrews,St Andrews,United Kingdom

Li，Dongfeng,Lu，Xixi,Walling，Desmond E.,et al. High Mountain Asia hydropower systems threatened by climate-driven landscape instability[J]. Nature Geoscience,2022,15(7):520-530.

Li，Dongfeng.,Lu，Xixi.,Walling，Desmond E..,Zhang，Ting.,Steiner，Jakob F..,...&Bolch，Tobias.(2022).High Mountain Asia hydropower systems threatened by climate-driven landscape instability.Nature Geoscience,15(7),520-530.

Li，Dongfeng,et al."High Mountain Asia hydropower systems threatened by climate-driven landscape instability".Nature Geoscience 15.7(2022):520-530.