A Scientific Assessment of the Third Pole Environment - Executive Summary

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dc.contributor.organizationScience Division
dc.date.accessioned2022-04-20T12:19:43Z
dc.date.available2022-04-20T12:19:43Z
dc.date.issued2022-04
dc.descriptionThis document synthesizes interdisciplinary evidence on the Third Pole, the Asian “water tower” spanning the Tibetan Plateau and adjacent mountain systems, describing its climate, water, ecosystems, and human pressures. It reports rapid warming above the global average, shrinking glaciers, more cryosphere-related hazards, declining snow cover, and altered river discharge, alongside ecosystem shifts, permafrost change, and biodiversity at risk. Transboundary pollutants such as black carbon, heavy metals, and persistent organic pollutants reach the region via monsoon and westerlies, affecting health and accelerating melt. Projections indicate late century warming of about 1.4-5.6 °C, precipitation increases of 6-15%, major glacier mass loss, and runoff that peaks then declines in glacier-fed basins, with cascading ecological impacts.en
dc.formatpdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/39758
dc.languageEnglish
dc.languageFrench
dc.languageSpanish
dc.languageRussian
dc.languageChinese
dc.languageArabic
dc.page.number4 pages
dc.rights.accessLevelPublic
dc.subjectair pollutant
dc.subjectbiodiversity
dc.subjectclimate change
dc.subjectclimate zone
dc.subjectecosystem
dc.subjectenvironmental impact assessment
dc.subjectfreshwater
dc.subjectfreshwater ecosystem
dc.subjectglobal warming
dc.subjectPolar region
dc.subjectwater resource
dc.subject.sdgSDG 13 - Climate Action
dc.subject.sdgSDG 14 - Life below Water
dc.subject.themechemistry
dc.subject.themechemical pollution
dc.subject.themeclimate
dc.subject.themeadministration
dc.subject.themeenvironmental governance
dc.subject.themenatural areas
dc.subject.themelandscape
dc.subject.themeecosystems
dc.titleA Scientific Assessment of the Third Pole Environment - Executive Summaryen
dc.typePolicy brief

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