Study led by NUS researchers reveals climate change increases fluvial sediment in the high mountains of Asia

To examine the impact of a warmer and wetter climate in High Mountain Asia, Professor Lu Xixi and Dr Dongfeng Li from the Department of Geography at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences led an international team of researchers to conduct a new analysis of observations of headwater rivers in the area. The study revealed that fluvial sediment loads have been increasing substantially, even much faster than river water discharge. This has important implications for water quality, hydropower development and maintenance, and for the riverine carbon cycle.