The Effects of Natural and Anthropogenic Changes on Heat and Water Budgets in the Central Caucasus, USSR

Comparison of maps that show the location of equilibrium lines of glaciers during this century and the latter half of the nineteenth century indicate the magnitude of the recession of glaciers and the associated changes of climatic parameters. A mathematical model was used to assess the corresponding changes in the elements of the heat budget by vertical belts. In addition, the transformation of the water budget as a result of changes of the climatic parameters was studied in relation to specific landscape types in the region. Areas of high mountains are greatly influenced by natural trends of climate and by landscape structure, and areas of low mountains by anthropogenic factors. Positive feedbacks in the geographical sphere are identified: climatic warming has caused a reduction of the area covered by permanent ice and snow and changes in vegetation at lower altitudes

Climate change · Climatology · Geography · Glacier · Meteorology · Natural (archaeology · Physical geography · Snow · Vegetation (pathology · Climate change and permafrost · Cryospheric studies and observations · Environmental Science · Geological Studies and Exploration · Geology · Oceanography