Abstract
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges and likely to have significant impact on the hydrology. Due to the increase in urbanization, industrialization and climate change, availability and requirement scenario of freshwater have been changing. Water availability and water security are becoming more uncertain through changes in temperature and precipitation, shifts in the timing and intensity of the monsoon, increased frequency of extreme events such as droughts and floods and accelerated melting of the Himalayan glaciers resulting in changes in short- and long-term runoff, snow cover and melting. The Brahmaputra River basin is one of the most vulnerable areas in the world as it is subject to the combined effects of glacier melt, extreme monsoon rainfall and sea level rise. For years, the river has been serving as one of the most important freshwater resources for agriculture, irrigation, transportation and electricity and habitat for aquatic organisms in the north-eastern India. People residing along its banks are heavily dependent on the river for their livelihood, thus making them a highly vulnerable riverine community. As climate change is a major concern, we should reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and develop effective management strategy for freshwater resource. Climate change adds uncertainty in controlling core issues of water management due to lack of capacity to address climate change. Therefore to address this problem, we need resilient institutions. At the same time, we need political process, involvement of diverse array of actors and foreign policies of riparian countries for transboundary water management.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Aris A Z (2009) Genotoxicity assessment of mercuric chloride in the marine fish Therapon jaruba. Environ Asia 2:50–54
Alloway BJ (2010) Heavy metals in soils. Trace metals and metalloids in soil and their bioavailability. Springer, Dordrecht
Bates B, Kundzewicz Z, Wu S (2008) Climate change and water, intergovernmental panel on climate change, Technical Paper VI
Berner RA, Lasaga AC, Garrels RM (1983) The carbonate–silicate geochemical cycle and its effect on atmospheric carbon dioxide over the past 100 million years. Am J Sci 284:641–683
Christensen TH (1989) Cadmium soil sorption at low concentrations. VII. Correlation with soil parameters. Water Air Soil Poll 44:71–82, 1989
Cohen SJ, Waddell MW (2009) Climate change in the 21st century. McGill-Queen's Press, pp 315–316
Das A, Krishnaswami S, Sarin MM (2005) Chemical weathering in the Krishna Basin and Western Ghats of the Deccan Traps, India: rate of basalt weathering and their controls. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 66:3397–3416
Das P, Sarma KP, Jha PK, Herbert JR, Kumar M (2016) Understanding the cyclicity of Chemical weathering and associated CO2 consumption in the Brahmaputra River Basin (India): the role of major rivers in climate change mitigation perspective. Aquat Geochem 22:1–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-016-9290-6
Eriksson M, Xu JC, Shrestha AB, Vaidya RA, Santosh N (2009) The changing Himalayas: impact of climate change on water resources and livelihoods in the greater Himalayas. ICIMOD, Kathmandu
Gaillardet J, Dupre B, Allegre CJ (1999) Global silicate weathering and CO2 consumption rates deduced from the chemistry of large rivers. Chem Geol 159(1–4):3–30
Jha PK, Tiwari J, Singh UK, Kumar M, Subramanian V (2009) Chemical weathering and associated CO2 consumption in the Godavari river basin, India. Chem Geol 264(1–4):364–374
Kumar M, Furumai H, Kurisu F, Kasuga I (2013a) Tracing source and distribution of heavy metals in road dust, soil and soakaway sediment through speciation and isotopic fingerprinting. Geoderma 211:8–17
Kumar M, Furumai H, Kurisu F, Kasuga I (2013b) Potential mobility of heavy metals through coupled application of sequential extraction and isotopic exchange; comparison of leaching tests applied to soil and soakaway sediment. Chemosphere 90:796–804
Lei D, Yongzhang Z, Jin M, Yong L, Qiuming C (2008) Using multivariate statistical and geostatistical methods to identify spatial variability of trace elements in agricultural soils in Dongguan City, Guangdong, China. J China Univ Geosci 19(4):343–353
Nagarajan N, Devi VJ, Devi CA, Kumaraguru AK (2009) Genotoxicity assessment of mercuric chloride in the marine fish Therapon jaruba. Environ Asia 2:50–54
Rasul G (2015) Water for growth and development in the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna basins: an economic perspective. Int J River Basin Man 13:387. https://doi.org/10.1080/15715124.2015.10125
Shrestha A, Aryal R (2011) Climate change in Nepal and its impact on Himalayan glaciers. Reg Environ Chang 11(1):65–77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-010-0174-9
Singh SK, Sarin MM, France –LC (2005) Chemical erosion in the eastern Himalaya: major ion composition of the Brahmaputra and δ 13 C of dissolved inorganic carbon. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 69(1):3573–3588
Thorne CR, Russell APG, Alam MK (1993) Planform pattern and channel evolution of the Brahmaputra River, Bangladesh. In: Best JL, Bristow CS (eds) Braided Rivers. The Geological Society, London, pp 257–276
Wu W, Xu S, Yang J (2008) Silicate weathering and CO2 consumption deduced from seven Chinese rivers originating in the Qinghai–Tibet plateau. Chem Geol 249:307–320, 2008
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Das, P., Kumar, M. (2019). Climate Change and Sustainable Management of the Rivers System with Special Reference to the Brahmaputra River. In: Singh, R., Kolok, A., Bartelt-Hunt, S. (eds) Water Conservation, Recycling and Reuse: Issues and Challenges. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3179-4_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3179-4_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-3178-7
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-3179-4
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)