The article presents the main provisions that prevailed, according to the authors, until the 70s of the 20th century and the provisions that lead to the need for a shift in the existing paradigm

The Central Asia region has been a scene of numerous large-scale bedrock landslides that have blocked river valleys producing landslide-dammed lakes, more than 100 of which still store water. The largest one is the Usoi dam 2.2 km3 in volume and more than 550 m high in Pamirs (Tajikistan) that originated in 1911 due to […]

On the basis of the studies performed, glacial mudflows at the stage of glaciation degradation can be considered as a result of the action of two groups of factors: constant acting, slow-changing and temporary, fast-changing ones. The former include climate and conditions of the underlying surface, while the latter include current hydrometeorological conditions and various […]

The paper describes the method of using of remote sensing data to determine the important characteristics of the potentially dangerous mountain lakes of glacial origin: area, volume and maximal discharge of the outburst wave. Empirical formulae for computation of lake’s volume as a function of its area and maximal depth have been obtained on the […]

The interpretation of aerial photographs of different years and analysis of maps helped us to obtain reliable information about the rates and intensity of degradation of glaciation and change in the structure of glacier moraine complex in the fourth large glacial systems of the Northern Tien Shan in the second half of XX century. During […]

The article proposes organization of observations of glaciers dynamics, and, in particular, retreat and loss of mass, according to an abbreviated program with the use of modern space technologies – GPS and space photography.

Preparation and responding to individuals, groups of people or communities, socio-economic and natural systems to climate change and their environment is called adaptation. At that adaptation process is rather often in ractice, can be combined with the risks that should be considered as opportunities for development.

Climatic, environmental, institutional, and sociodemographic changes have occurred across Central Asia—and Kyrgyzstan in particular—in recent decades. Yet, many of these changes and their significance are not well known outside of the region. Indeed, the last IPCC Assessment Report (AR5) suggests that there are more knowledge gaps about the consequences of climate change in Central Asia […]

Several large drainages from short-lived lakes occurred in the Teskey Range in 2006-2014. The large drainages are caused due to closure and opening of ice-tunnel which developed inside of debris landforms at glacier front. To understand a drainage system of the short-lived lake, we investigated the timing of appearance of the short-lived lakes in the […]

Mountain societies in developing and low-income countries are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, which can severely threaten their livelihoods. The situation of mountain communities in the Pamir and Tien Shan mountains in Central Asia is exacerbated by remote location, difficult access, and poorly maintained infrastructure as well as by a distinctly continental […]

Dams construction is an old art practiced by man since thousands of years. History of dams shows great innovations in this field, but failure cases, however, indicate gaps in human knowledge of safety measures that could have stopped such failures. Available statistics show of a great boom in building dams during the past century and […]

The water management infrastructure of Central Asia comprises a multitude of reservoirs, dams, irrigation systems and pumping stations, a great number of canals and tens of multipurpose hydraulic projects. The highest dam in the world, the Nurek Dam, a rockfill dam of300 metres in height, is located on the Vakhsh River in Tajikistan, and one […]