Book excerpt: Water Quality in the Third Pole: The Roles of Climate Change and Human Activities offers in-depth coverage of water quality issues (natural and human-related), the monitoring of contaminants, and the remediation of water contamination. The book's chapters assess years of research on water quality and climate change in this fascinating and scientifically important region. Topics addressed include climate change impacts on water qualities of freshwater bodies, such as glaciers, lakes, rivers and precipitation. In addition, the book explains the growing concerns over water quality, such as mercury, trace elements, major ions, persistent organic pollutants and their circulation. As such, it is an essential reference for academics and policymakers interested in the water quality of natural bodies. - Identifies key issues and problems, focusing on water quality in the Third Pole region under the changing scenarios of global climate change - Provides updated information on water quality in a compiled form, mainly from climatically and lithologically distinct Himalayan regions - Highlights the local and long-range transported inputs of pollutants in water bodies