Glacier retreat of the Tian Shan and its impact on the urban growth and environment evaluated from satellite remote sensing data

3rd International Symposium on Earth Observation for Arid and Semi-Arid Environments

Fu, B.H.^1 ; Guo, Q.^1,2 ; Yan, F.^1 ; Zhang, J.^1 ; Shi, P.L.^1 ; Ayinuer, M.^1 ; Xue, G.L.^1

Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing

100094, China^1

University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing

100094, China^2

关键词: Coal-fired power plant;    Global temperatures;    Ground observations;    Long term change;    Mountain glaciers;    Satellite remote sensing data;    Surrounding regions;    Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/74/1/012022/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1755-1315/74/1/012022

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

The retreat of mountain glaciers, notably in high Asia, provides evidence for the rise of global temperature. The mass balance is vital for the health of a glacier. If the amount of frozen precipitation in the accumulation zone exceeds the quantity of glacial ice loss due to melting or lies in the ablation zone, the glacier will advance. Conversely, if the accumulation is less than the ablation, the glacier will retreat. Glaciers in retreat will have negative mass balances, and if they do not reach an equilibrium between accumulation and ablation, will eventually disappear. Long-term changes of the mountain glaciers in the Tian Shan, Central Asia, are not well constrained. Analyses of satellite remote sensing data combined with the ground observations reveal a 37.5% decline of glaciered area from 1989 to 2014 in No.1 Glacier, the headwaters of the Urumqi River basin, Chinese Tian Shan, which could be linked to increased summer melting. The results show that the area of glaciers was reduced from 31.55 km2in 18 August 1989 to 28.66 km2in 24 August 1994 and 19.74 km2in 31 August 2014. The glacier area was reduced by 0.47 km2/per year in recent 25 years since 1989, and the annual reduction was 1.5%. Meanwhile, the urban area of Urumqi, the biggest city of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, increased from 156 km2in 1989 to 555 km2 in 2014. Correspondingly, the population of permanent residents increased from 1.06 million in 1989 to 3.53 million in 2014. We suggest that the decline of glacier area is driven primarily by summer melting and, possibly, linked to the combined effects of the global rise in temperatures and black carbon/CO2emission from coal-fired power plants, cement plants and petroleum chemical plants from the nearby Urumqi and surrounding regions. The continuing retreat of glaciers will have a number of different quantitative impacts. Populations in the arid Central Asia regions are heavily dependent on snow and glacier melt for their irrigation and drinking supplies. A continuation of the current retreat will eventually deplete the glacial ice and substantially reduce or eliminate runoff. It will also affect the availability of fresh water for mountain recreation, animals and plants that depend on glacier-melting.