- 107 - 06584 - 0 - The High - Mountain Cryosphere : Environmental Changes and Human Risks

Recent global-scale assessments such as the 5th Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have provided evidence of the rapid changes to the high-mountain cryosphere due to climate change [1,2]. Glaciers, recognized as indicators or ‘thermometers’ of climate change, have been receding worldwide over the past century, and many glaciers are likely to disappear over the next several decades, leaving behind historically unprecedented landscapes. High mountains are commonly thought of as being remote, but human interactions with this environment are essential for many societies, and rapid biophysical changes can cause societal transformations. The natural alpine environment, its human dimensions, and their interplay are increasingly being documented. Observation technologies have improved, times series of observations have become longer, and the number of monitoring sites has increased, all of which have increased our understanding of regional changes to the high-mountain cryosphere. Similarly, more research is being conducted on how local people perceive the cryosphere and high mountains, how physical changes affect their livelihoods, and how they respond to such changes. Nevertheless, there are still substantial gaps in our understanding. For example, until recently regional and local glacier changes in the Himalayas had not been adequately studied, and ground observations there are scarce [3]. In many regions we still lack a comprehensive understanding of how climate and cryosphere changes will affect water resources, slope stability, and vegetation. The most substantial gaps in knowledge, however, are in the human dimensions. The framing of research on cyrospheric change has been around ice and water itself, with little attention to how people perceive, feel, or value those changes, or how distinct social groups living near or far from glaciers are affected by changes to