Tropical glaciers constitute key indicators of climate change. Their behavior, in terms of interannual mass balance fluctuations, is linked to modes of tropical climate variability, such as ENSO. On multi-decadal time scales, a clear relationship between increasing temperature, predominantly negative glacier mass balance and accelerated glacier retreat since the late 1970s has been widely documented, but the influence of other climate parameters such as precipitation, humidity and cloudiness remains poorly understood.
The importance of tropical glaciers for ecosystems, agriculture, freshwater and energy production is widely recognized but the necessary level of more detailed understanding is mostly lacking. This is especially important for projections under continued climate change and its effects on glacier shrinkage and freshwater resources.
This session aims at attracting a broad range of contributions, including the following main research lines:
1) Studies on tropical glacier mass balance, surface energy balance, changes in surface-area, volume or ELA over recent years and decades from field measurements or remote-sensing techniques.
2) Research on tropical climate variability and change, and on the relationship between climate and glacier changes on any temporal or spatial scale.
3) Contributions addressing the importance of tropical glacier water resources for local and regional natural and socio-economic systems both in the recent past and future.