Editorial
It is our great pleasure to issue our journal ‘Global Environmental Research’ which aims to disseminate the results of studies on
global environmental issues, studies conducted not only in Japan but also in other parts of the world. Many scientists monitor researchin their own fields, but communications between scientists are not always easy, because the ranges of their fields are so broad, subjects are
so diverse, and reports may not be written in an internationally spoken language. This journal is intended to help fill these gaps.
A language gap often exists for Japanese scientists. In recent years, many reports, publications, and other forms of information
have been released relating to Japanese studies on global environmental issues, but only a small number of them are published in English.
Accordingly, one purpose of ‘Global Environmental Research’ is to provide information on Japanese research results to scientists,
internationally and in a timely manner.
Relatively speaking, exchanges of information among the Asian and Pacific regions on research results relating to global
environmental issues are inadequate because of local language barriers and limited opportunities to present results. We hope that
‘Global Environmental Research’ will help to solve these problems simultaneously.
International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), Human Dimensions Programme of Global Environmental Change (HDP),
and other international and interdisciplinary programmes are now producing a lot of important results. Many government ministries andagencies are providing considerable budgets each year for studies on global environmental issues. The results of these studies need to be
distributed world wide. We hope this journal will also make a contribution to this end. It was said that title of the third scientificsymposium of the HDP ‘Global Change, Local Challenge’ recognises that global changes are the results of a variety of local activities
shaped by particular cultures, histories, political boundaries, and national policies. We are certain that ‘Global Environmental Research’
will serve as a transmitter of information on local activities about global change.
Hiroyoshi HIGUCHI

Editorial Board
Chairperson :Hiroyoshi HIGUCHI

Project Professor, Keio University

Members :Yoshitaka FUKUOKA

Professor Emeritus, Hiroshima University

Kouichi GOKA

Principal Researcher, Center for Environmental Biology and Ecosystem Studies,
National Institute for Environmental Studies

Akira HARASHIMA

Former Chief of Marine Environment Section, Water and Soil Environment Division,
National Institute for Environmental Studies

Tomomi INOUE

Senior Researcher Center for Environmental Biology and Ecosystem Studies,
National Institute for Environmental Studies

Naoki KACHI

Professor, Tokyo Metropolitan University

Mikiko KAINUMA

Chief of Climate Policy Assessment Research Team, Center for Global Environmental
Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies

Satoshi MATSUMOTO

Professor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo / Akita Prefectural University

Maiko NISHI

Researcher, United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies

Kenichi SATAKE

Professor, Rissho University

Masataka WATANABE

Professor, Keio University

Teiji WATANABE

Professor, Hokkaido University

Masatoshi YOSHINO

Professor Emeritus, University of Tsukuba

Editorial Secretary : Association of International Research Initiatives for Environmental Studies (AIRIES)
Hiroaki TAKAGIKenji FUKUYAMA
Ryoko MORIMOTO
Patricia ORMSBYContents

CONTENTS
Studies on the Recent Glacial Fluctuations,
Glacial Lakes and Glacial Lake Outburst Floodsin South Asian Mountains

1Preface ············································································································Koji FUJITA and Teiji WATANABE

3

Outline of Research Project on Glacial Lake Outburst Floods inthe Bhutan Himalayas·········································· Koji FUJITA, Kouichi NISHIMURA, Jiro KOMORI, Shuji IWATA,Jinro UKITA, Takeo TADONO and Toru KOIKE

13Recent Glacier Shrinkages in the Lunana Region, Bhutan Himalayas··················· Nozomu NAITO, Ryohei SUZUKI, Jiro KOMORI, Yoshihiro MATSUDA, Satoru YAMAGUCHI,Takanobu SAWAGAKI, Phuntsho TSHERING and Kharka Singh GHALLEY

23Glacial Lakes in the Himalayas: A Review on Formation and Expansion Processes ······················· Akiko SAKAI

31Development and Validation of New Glacial Lake Inventory in the Bhutan Himalayas
Using ALOS ‘DAICHI’ ·················································· Takeo TADONO, Sachi KAWAMOTO, Chiyuki NARAMA,Tsutomu YAMANOKUCHi, Jinro UKITA, Nobuhiro TOMIYAMA and Hironori YABUKI

41

Scenario Analysis on Risks of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods on
the Mangde Chhu River, Bhutan ··································································· Toru KOIKE and Shuhei TAKENAKA

51

Study on Applicability of Electric Sounding for Interpretation of the Internal Structure ofGlacial Moraines ······································· Kengo OHASHI, Toru KOIKE, Shuhei TAKENAKA and Jun UMEMURA

59

Glacial Lake Outburst Events in the Bhutan Himalayas······································· Jiro KOMORI, Toru KOIKE, Tsutomu YAMANOKUCHI and Phuntsho TSHERING

71

Erosion and Sedimentation Caused by Glacial Lake Outburst Floodsin the Nepal and Bhutan Himalayas ······································································ Daisuke HIGAKI and Go SATO

77

A Social Survey for GLOF Disaster Mitigation in Bhutan········································································ Shuhei TAKENAKA, Tadashi SATOH and Sonam LHAMO

83

Changes in Surface Morphology and Glacial Lake Development ofChamlang South Glacier in the Eastern Nepal Himalaya since 1964···································· Takanobu SAWAGAKI, Damodar LAMSAL, Alton C BYERS and Teiji WATANABE

95

Variation in Suspended Sediment Concentration of Supraglacial Lakes on
Debris-covered Area of the Lirung Glacier in the Nepal Himalayas················· Nozomu TAKEUCHI, Akiko SAKAI, Shiro KOHSHIMA, Koji FUJITA and Masayoshi NAKAWOContents

Contributed Paper
105

Recent Forest and Peat Fire Trends in Indonesia
The Latest Decade by MODIS Hotspot Data ···················· Nina YULIANTI, Hiroshi HAYASAKA and Aswin USUP

Preface

1Preface
Recent controversy regarding changes in Himalayan glaciers, triggered by an erroneous statement in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC, 2007), has highlighted major gaps
in knowledge of the present and future behavior of Himalayan glaciers and in understanding of the underlying processes. The description in the IPCC’s report referred to poorly substantiated estimates of the rates of recession anddates of disappearance of Himalayan glaciers. Meanwhile, views on changes in Himalayan glaciers by many researchers, including Japanese, have differed (e.g., Asahi, 2001; Waragai, 2010). It is well known that the ‘IPCC statement on
the melting of Himalayan glaciers’ was released on 20 January 2010 (IPCC, 2010), in which IPCC had to correct its
previous statement.
In addition, glacier changes not only imply change in water availability but also altered risks due to glacial hazards,
not the least of which are glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). GLOFs are recognized worldwide, and in fact areconsidered a major natural hazard in the Himalayas. GLOFs have been studied in the Nepal Himalaya at least sincethe 1980s (Fushimi et al., 1985; Ives, 1986; Vuichard & Zimmermann, 1987), and the Imja Glacier Lake, one of themost heavily studied glacial lakes in Nepal, was first systematically examined in 1988 (Hammond, 1988).
Nevertheless, research and mitigation measures have been limited, even in Nepal, mainly due to the high altitudes
involved and difficult accessibility.
Much literature on glacier changes, glacial lakes, GLOFs and resultant phenomena has been published in SouthAsia, especially in the Nepal Himalaya. Such studies have greatly advanced in the last decade. However, there still
exist regional imbalances in terms of the amount of knowledge of these phenomena. This special issue carries
state-of-the-knowledge studies led by Japanese scientists, focusing mostly on the state of glaciers in the Bhutan
Himalaya, which has been poorly understood.
GLOFs are a great concern not only to researchers but also to local communities. Knowledge of GLOFs is delivered to the local residents mostly through mass media and rumors, often resulting in unnecessary threats. In this regard,conducting research alone with no follow-up may not be appreciated; mitigating actions and dialogues with local residents together with research activities are important components of a well balanced approach. One project in Bhutanby the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) is providing
a good example of bridging the gap between research and mitigation/dialogues with local residents on GLOF issues.
In addition to promoting natural sciences, the GLOF project in Bhutan involves training of local experts, technology
transfer, and a proposal for an early warning system.
Ten years have passed since the UN’s International Year of Mountains (IYM), and we can find increasing necessity
for projects combining research itself with feedback mechanisms to the local communities. We do hope that this special issue, a contribution to the IYM Plus 10 by the Japanese science community, will lead to further development andpromotion of research and action projects in mountain areas worldwide.
Koji FUJITA and Teiji WATANABE

Note
Spellings of place names adopted in this issue vary among the papers, because they differ among different maps and information sources.2PrefaceReferences
Asahi, K. (2001) Inventory and recent variations of glaciers in the eastern Nepal Himalayas. Seppyo: 63, 159-169. (in Japanese)
Fushimi, H., K. Ikegami, K. Higuchi and K. Shankar (1985) Nepal Case Study; catastrophic floods. International Association of
Hydrological Sciences, 149: 125-130.
Hammond, J.E. (1988) Glacial Lakes in the Khumbu Region, Nepal: An Assessment of the Hazards. MA thesis, University of Colorado,Boulder, Colorado.
IPCC (2007) Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment
Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, UK.
IPCC (2010) IPCC statement on the melting of Himalayan glaciers. Geneva, 20 January 2010.
<http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/presentations/himalaya-statement-20january2010.pdf>
Ives, J.D. (1986) Glacial lake outburst floods and risk engineering in the Himalayas. International Centre for Integrated Mountain
Development (ICIMOD) Occasional Paper 5.
Vuichard, D. and M. Zimmermann (1987) The 1985 catastrophic drainage of a moraine-dammed lake, Khumbu Himal, Nepal: cause andconsequences. Mountain Research and Development, 7: 91-110.
Waragai, T. (2010) Characteristics of glacier fluctuations in the Karakoram and Pamir Mts. In: K. Endo, S. Yamakawa and T. Waragai,eds., Kyokuken to Seppyouken to Chikyuu Kankyou (The Polar Circles, Cryosphere and Global Environment), Ninomiya Shoten, 90-95.
(in Japanese)