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Climate-Induced Glacier Retreats and Associated Hazards: Need for Robust Glaciers and Glacial Lake Management Policy in Sikkim Himalaya, India

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Climate Change

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Abstract

Himalayan glaciers, the freshwater tower of South and East Asia, are strongly affected by climate change impacts. The rapid melting of glaciers due to climate warming has resulted in the formation and expansion of many glacial lakes in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), which has posed the threat of glacial lake outburst floods. Sikkim Himalaya, an important part of Eastern IHR, possesses 84 glaciers and 14 potentially dangerous glacial lakes. However, the in situ-based study on the glaciers and glacial lakes dynamics is limited in the region due to the minimal capacity of human resources and remote and rugged terrain of glaciers. More importantly, there is a lack of glacier protection laws and glacial lake management plans to cope with climate-induced effects and hazards. The present study critically reviews glaciological researches and examines the scientific gaps and challenges controlling the research and management of glaciers and glacial lakes in Sikkim Himalaya. Further, the scientific suggestions and recommendations placed in the present study can be vital elements to frame effective climate change policy required for investigation, adaptation, and mitigations against adverse climate change impacts.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, and Land Revenue and Disaster Management Department (LRDMD), Government of Sikkim (GoS), for supporting the climate change activities and its mitigation measures in Sikkim. The authors would like to thank the DST, Vigyan Bhawan-Sikkim, and Research and Technology Development Centre (RTDC), Sharda University, Uttar Pradesh, for providing the infrastructural support. The overall support from Shri D.G. Shrestha, Director (Remote Sensing and Climate Change Division), and Dr. N.P. Sharma, Asst. Scientific Officer (RS), is deeply acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science, School of Basic Sciences and Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

    R. K. Sharma & Rajesh Kumar

  2. Department of Environmental Science, School of Earth Sciences, Central University of Rajasthan, Ajmer, Rajasthan, India

    Rajesh Kumar

  3. Sikkim State Council of Science and Technology, Vigyan Bhawan, Deorali, Gangtok, Sikkim, India

    R. K. Sharma & Pranay Pradhan

  4. Department of Computer Applications, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology, Majitar, Sikkim, India

    Arpan Sharma

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Seema Rani

  2. Department of Geography, School of Human Sciences, Sikkim University, Gangtok, Sikkim, India

    Rajesh Kumar

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Sharma, R.K., Kumar, R., Pradhan, P., Sharma, A. (2022). Climate-Induced Glacier Retreats and Associated Hazards: Need for Robust Glaciers and Glacial Lake Management Policy in Sikkim Himalaya, India. In: Rani, S., Kumar, R. (eds) Climate Change. Springer Climate. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92782-0_8

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