Public Lecture
Climate Change: The Fate of Himalayan
Sourced Rivers - Perspectives from China,
Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Bhutan
Wednesday 3 June 2015, 4:00pm
Speakers
Dr. Ailikun
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Dr Shahriar Wahid
Intl Centre for Integrated Mountain
Development (ICIMOD), Nepal
Assoc Prof Prem Chapagain
Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Dr Shresth Tayal
The Energy and Resources Institute
(TERI), India
Dr. Ahsan Uddin Ahmed
Centre for Global Change (CGC),
Bangladesh
Dr Gongsar Karma Chhopel
National Environment Commission,
Bhutan
Location
Lecture Theatre 2
Manning Clark Centre (#26A)
Union Court
ANU
Refreshments will follow
RSVP: Eventbrite click here
This lecture is free & open to
the public
The Himalaya -Tibetan
Plateau, also known as the
Water Tower of Asia or the
Third Pole, is home to the
highest mountains and
glaciers in the world. Melt
water from this huge reserve
feeds major Asian river
basins, such as the Indus,
Ganges, Brahmaputra,
Yangtze and Mekong. This
region is home to an estimated 1.4 billion people or approximately one quarter
of the world’s population. These river basins support the well-being of some of
the poorest and densely populated people on earth through the provision of
water for drinking, irrigation and hydro-power generation. However, changing
monsoon climates, more extreme weather events and continued glacial melt
have long term implications for the region’s water, energy and food security.
Such changes will lead to an increased incidence of natural disasters such as
glacial lake out-burst floods and landslides, and the combined effects of
prolonged dry seasons and population growth is likely to lead to critical water
shortages in large Asian cities. The region is also faced with a multitude of other
environmental, political and social challenges that are exacerbated by a
changing climate.
A team of interdisciplinary researchers from Australia and New Zealand are
working collaboratively with their counterparts in China, Nepal, India,
Bangladesh and Bhutan to address the critical climate change adaptation
challenges facing the Himalayan region in the new millennium. These
challenges are being addressed head-on using Climate Change Adaptation tools
and in the development of a Knowledge Management Framework for
Himalayan sourced rivers to inform and support decision making processes. An
overarching strategy of this collaboration is to develop a source (highland
mountains) to sink (lowland plains) approach to managing climate change risks
in the region.