Status of Climate Change and Implications to Ecology and Community Livelihoods in the Bhutan Himalaya

The eastern Himalayan climate is strongly determined by a rugged mountainous terrain and the impact of the Indian summer monsoon. Climate change increases the vulnerability of key economic sectors (e.g., agriculture, forestry and hydro-power generation) of Bhutan and threatens the countries rich biodiversity, its fragile community livelihoods and increases the probability of hazardous events (e.g., glacier lake outburst floods, flash floods, droughts and forest fires). A comprehensive knowledge of Bhutan’s climatic conditions and their variability is therefore essential to enhance the efficiency and applicability of adaptation efforts. Very few studies on the climatology of the Bhutanese Himalaya have been published so far. The scanty literature has primarily focused on the reduction of threats related to the formation of glacier lakes. In contrast, this study (1) analyses the average spatial and inner-annual variability of air temperature and precipitation regimes of Bhutan, based on local meteorological observations and climate projections, and (2) relates the effects of climatic changes on water resources, ecosystem services, agriculture and the economy of Bhutan.