Large accumulation plateau at a head of the Fedchenko Glacier (Pamir) 5280-5650 m. Photo by V. Aizen

High elevation snowfields of the central Asia mountains system (Altai, Tien Shan, Pamir, Himalayas, Tibet) contain robust records documenting: moisture advection into Asia from the Atlantic and Arctic; dynamics of the westerly jet stream, the Siberian High, and Asian monsoon; and naturally and humanly forced environmental change over central Asia. However, the current spatial coverage of ice-core records in this region is inadequate to document climatic and environmental changes over the northern region of central Asia through the Holocene, even though central Asian glaciers have been studied continuously since the 19th century by Russian scientists and despite the apparent sensitivity of this region to future climate change. The previous ice-coring research delivered by CADIP team in central Asia demonstrate extraordinary results that could be compared with Arctic and Antarctic ice-core time series to extend our knowledge about recent and past climate and environmental changes, to better predict the future consequences of these changes, bounding this information with global and regional social-economic development.

Note scarcity of data in the Pamir and eastern Tibet compared to much of the rest of Asia. See references for research conducted in the regions depicted

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