Project description
Untangling the complex interplay between different atmospheric drivers on High-Mountain Asia
The cryosphere of High-Mountain Asia (HMA) is extremely sensitive to shifts in air temperature and precipitation, with its glaciers and icecaps responding to the present warming and to fluctuating prevailing atmospheric circulation systems. One such system, the Asian monsoon, is a seasonal change in wind direction, which allows moist air from the Indian and Pacific oceans to precipitate at high elevations of HMA, feeding the cryosphere. The EU-funded HAIL project will untangle the complex interplay between different atmospheric drivers and documented glacier culminations during the past 60 000 years, focusing on an enigmatic behaviour of HMA glaciers during warm interstadial intervals. Decoupling global from regional climate drivers is important if we are to understand past changes in glaciers or predict their future fate.
Fields of science
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencespalaeontologypaleoclimatology
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesmeteorologyatmospheric circulation
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesgeologygeomorphology
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesphysical geographyglaciology
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesgeologygeochronology