Climate Change – GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF TAJIKISTAN

GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF TAJIKISTAN

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17

Mar

Land & Ecosystems

GeoSociety

Shrinking Wetlands in Sughd

The wetlands of Sughd are easy to miss. Seen from the road between Zafarobod and Istaravshan, they look like shimmering patches of reeds and shallow water, a blur of green against the gray-brown loess plains. But beneath that surface lies one of the most fragile geographies in northern Tajikistan: a network of seasonal lakes, backwaters,
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2

Jan

Hazards & Safety

GeoSociety

Avalanches and Climate Change

Each winter, as the high valleys of Tajikistan disappear under snow, the country holds its breath. In the Pamirs and the Alay ranges, avalanches descend without warning, cutting roads, sweeping away power lines, and, every few years, claiming lives. They are among the most dramatic expressions of mountain geography—sudden, unpredictable, and amplified by change. For
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11

Oct

Land & Ecosystems

GeoSociety

The Vakhsh Valley: Agriculture and Risk

The Vakhsh Valley lies at the center of Tajikistan’s agricultural heartland—a long, sunlit corridor stretching south from the foothills near Danghara to the Afghan border. It is a place of abundance and unease. Here, the geography that makes farming possible also makes it precarious. Fertile alluvial soils spread across ancient river terraces; snowmelt from the
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10

Aug

Climate & Glaciers

GeoSociety

Glacial Monitoring: Science on High Ice

At over 5,000 meters in elevation, the glaciers of Tajikistan look eternal. Their white surfaces crown the Pamirs and feed every major river that sustains life below. Yet to scientists who have spent decades measuring them, the ice no longer feels timeless—it feels fragile, restless, and receding. Glacial monitoring in Tajikistan is a story of
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13

Jun

Land & Ecosystems

GeoSociety

High Pastures: Yak Herding in the Pamirs

High above the treeline, where the air thins and the land turns to stone and grass, the geography of Tajikistan takes on a slower rhythm. This is the world of the jayloo—the summer pastures of the Pamirs—and of the yak herders who still follow ancient routes through valleys carved by ice and wind. To outsiders,
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16

Nov

Land & Ecosystems

GeoSociety

Changing Crops: Climate Shifts in Agriculture

In the irrigated plains and terraced valleys of Tajikistan, the geography of agriculture is rewriting itself. The rhythms of water, the timing of frost, and the length of the growing season—once steady anchors of rural life—are slipping out of alignment. Crops are shifting: wheat and barley are moving uphill; apricots and almonds bloom too early;
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6

Apr

Hazards & Safety

GeoSociety

Glacial Outburst Floods: Case Studies

In the high valleys of Tajikistan, glaciers are not static masses of ice—they are reservoirs under tension. They move, melt, shift, and sometimes fail. When they do, the result can be one of the most sudden and destructive phenomena in mountain geography: a glacial lake outburst flood, or GLOF. These floods, unleashed from moraine-dammed or
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3

Dec

Land & Ecosystems

GeoSociety

The Fann Mountains: Tourism, Ecology, and Pressure

The Fann Mountains rise like a sudden wall from the Zeravshan Valley, their jagged limestone peaks and turquoise lakes drawing both mountaineers and local families during the brief, luminous summers. Tucked in northwestern Tajikistan between the Zeravshan and Gissar ranges, this compact but dramatic mountain system has become one of the country’s primary destinations for
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2

Sep

Society & Culture

GeoSociety

Women and Water: Gendered Geographies of Labor

In many Tajik villages, the sound of water is inseparable from women’s daily lives. At dawn, before the heat rises, women walk to canals, springs, or village taps with buckets and plastic containers, chatting softly as they queue. Later, they return to wash clothes at stream edges, irrigate kitchen gardens, or clean tools. These scenes
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14

Jul

Water & Rivers

GeoSociety

Riverine Fisheries: Decline and Adaptation

On the lower reaches of Tajikistan’s rivers, as spring runoff gives way to summer flows, fishermen gather at dawn along the banks with nets, handlines, and aging wooden boats. Their activity is both timeless and newly fragile. Riverine fisheries, which once was an abundant, integral part of local livelihoods and riparian ecosystems have been steadily
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