Analyzing snowfall variability over two locations in Kashmir,India in the context of warming climate |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114;2. Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114;1. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China;2. Ili Station for Watershed Ecosystem Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinyuan 835800, China;3. Key Laboratory for Mountain Hazards and Earth Surface Process, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China;4. CAS Research Centre for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia, Urumqi 830011, China;5. Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Utilization in Arid Zone, Urumqi 830011, China;1. Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;2. CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;3. School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand;4. Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China |
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| Abstract: | Present study focuses on examination snowfall variability over Gulmarg and Pahalgam of Kashmir Valley in India during past 31 years (1980–2010). Trends in temperature over the study area is also explored. Minimum and maximum temperature shows increasing trends which is consistent with increase in black carbon column mass density. Increase in black carbon mass density is attributed to urbanization over study area. Trends of minimum temperature is statistically significant. It is reported that snowfall over the Pahalgam shows decreasing trend except for the month of February and January. Pahalgam shows a significant decreasing trend in snowfall of about 48 mm per decade during March. Pahalgam and Gulmarg show seasonal decreasing trends of snowfall of about 15 mm and 1.8 mm per decade, respectively. These decreasing trends in snowfall are consistent with decadal increasing trends of about 1.2 °C and 0.8 °C in minimum temperature over Pahalgam and Gulmarg, respectively. Seasonal snowfall over both the regions shows decreasing trend (insignificant). Results reported in this study show a decrease of about 24.16% ± 9.86% per degree increase in minimum temperature over Pahalgam. Changing characteristics of snowfall in the context of anthropogenic warming present major challenges to the tourism and socioeconomic aspects over the Valley. |
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| Keywords: | Snowfall Black carbon Temperature Glaciers Warming |
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