Anthropogenic Influences Alter the Response and Seasonality of Evapotranspiration: A Case Study Over Two High Mountain Asia Basins

Earth's vegetation has been increasing over the past decades, altering water and energy cycles by changing evapotranspiration (ET). Greening, caused by climatic and anthropogenic factors, has high rates in High Mountain Asia (HMA). Here we focus on two HMA basins (the Yangtze and the Ganges-Brahmaputra) to contrast the impacts of climate- and human-induced greening on ET. Though the rate of greening is similar in both basins, anthropogenic influences lead to dissimilar responses in ET. In the Yangtze, climate-induced greening increases ET, with the increase in moisture being high enough to meet the ET demand. In the Ganges-Brahmaputra, irrigation-induced greening does not alter annual ET, only pre-monsoon ET increases. The dry season declines in water storage due to pumping decrease ET, while laboriously meeting the demand. This study provides a representative example of the contrasting influences of climate induced and anthropogenic driven processes on the seasonality of ET.