Future Sustainability Challenges in Hindu Kush-Himalaya - Impact of Global Changes on Mountains: Responses and Adaptation - page 241

Change in Temperature from 1880-2002 (ºC)

0 0.1 0.3 0.5 1 2

Figure 10.10. Result from computer models show the impact of soot on global temperature
between 1880 and 2002. More than 25 percent of the increase in average global temperature
between 1880 and 2002 is likely to be due to soot contamination of snow and ice worldwide.
Snow and ice contaminated with black carbon absorbs incoming solar radiation unlikely pure
snow and ice that refl ect large amount of incoming radiation back into space. According to
the estimate by the climate scientists from NASA and Columbia University, a soot content of
only a few parts per billion (ppb) can reduce snow's ability to refl ect incoming radiation by 1
percent. Image from: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (NASA Earth Observatory).

Figure 10.11. Water consumption by irrigation sector compared to total water consumption
in 2010 in HKH region. Under Business As Usual (BAU) scenario, 17 percent projected
increase in potential irrigation water demand due to growth in irrigated area from
1995 level. A much smaller increase of 4 percent in China. China and India faces
more severe increase in water scarcity than in the developing countries as a whole.
Data are IMPACT-WATER projections, 2002 in (Rosegrant et al. 2002).