Publications by authors named "Vassiliy Kapitsa"

This work helps address recent calls for systematic water quality assessment in Central Asia and considers how nutrient and salinity sources, and transport, affect water quality along the continuum from the cryosphere to the lowland plains. Spatial and, for the first time, temporal variations in stream water pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, and nitrate and phosphate concentrations are presented for four catchments (485-13,500 km), all with glaciers and major urban areas. The catchments studied were: Kaskelen (Kazakhstan), Ala-Archa (Kyrgyzstan), Chirchik (Uzbekistan) and the Kofarnihon (Tajikistan).

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Article Synopsis
  • Long-term monitoring of High Mountain Asian glaciers is essential as they support river flow in Asia, and recent data shows increasing rates of glacier mass loss in most regions since the 1960s.
  • Glacier mass budgets show significant variability, with rates as low as -0.06 m w.e.a in Eastern Pamir and as high as -0.40 m w.e.a in Central and Northern Tien Shan.
  • The primary driver of this escalating mass loss is rising summer temperatures, which now impact regions that previously maintained a balance between temperature and precipitation.
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