Climatic Rivers

This chapter details how the Asian Highlands are a critical part of Earth’s cryosphere, comprising permafrost, seasonally and perennially snow and ice-covered landscapes, and glaciers. Over their long histories, Highland communities and ecosystems have experienced climate and cryosphere change as the Highlands warmed during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and cooled during the Little Ice Age. Nevertheless, the uneven changes of the past few decades brought about by anthropogenic climate change, construction work, and increased aerosol contamination have accelerated cryosphere transformation and destabilized this balance. Increased meltwater has entered the system, creating larger lakes and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs). This chapter includes a boxed sidebar describing how wind moves dust and sand around the Highlands.