Human activities are profoundly affecting the world’s climate, and mountains are a sensitive indicator of that effect. Because of their altitude, slope and orientation to the sun, mountain ecosystems are easily disrupted by variations in climate. Many scientists believe that the changes occurring in mountain ecosystems may provide an early glimpse of what could come to pass in lowland environments.
As the world heats up, mountain glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates, while rare plants and animals struggle to survive over ever diminishing areas, and mountain peoples, already among the world’s poorest citizens, face even greater hardships.
Changes in the volume of mountain glaciers and in their seasonal melting patterns have an impact on water resources in many parts of the world. Changes in water availability due to climate change are taking place at a time when pressure on water resources for irrigation and food production, industrialization and urbanization is increasing.
Understanding how climate change affects mountains is vital as governments and international organizations develop strategies to reverse current global warming trends, elaborating treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. In addition, local community empowerment can be an essential step towards building climate change resilience in mountains.
Peru's coffee growers turn carbon traders to save their farms from climate changenewsIn the foothills of the Andes, in the Sierra Piura region of Peru, up to 6,600 farmers grow 4,000 tonnes a year of the finest Peruvian Coffee on family plots scattered across the mountainside. However, climate change, with droughts or deluges, threatens the future of Peru's poorest coffee farmers. But... Read more » |
The way to Rio+20: Legal Best Practices on Climate Change PolicypublicationWith Rio+20 negotiations approaching, the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) and the Centre for International Sustainable development Law (CISDL), release their Compendium of Legal Best Practices on Climate Change Policy. The purpose of this Compendium is to highlight the challenges that domestic governments face in implementing their international commitments to... Download » |
IUCN: Thomson Reuters Environmental Media AwardeventFor over a decade, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has teamed up with Thomson Reuters Foundation to honor environmental journalism. From 15 May to 15 June 2012, journalists and writers across the world are invited to submit an article on an environmental issue, for the IUCN –... Read more » |
Namibia hosts African climate negotiatorsnewsThe African Group of Negotiators (AGN) on Climate Change - a platform for African Member States’ senior officials, experts and negotiators in the United Nations Framework on the Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations - held their preparatory meeting in Windhoek, Namibia, on 17 April 2012. Africa currently faces many... Read more » |
Climate change adaptation in Africa's "living places"multimediaIn order to set in motion the development of an enhanced mountain agenda for Africa, international experts, researchers and journalists from Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe met in Mbale, Uganda, for three days (November 2011). Together, they... Read more » |
Bonn Climate Change Conference - May 2012newsFrom 14 to 25 May 2012, governments will embark on the next essential steps required to curb global greenhouse gas emissions and help developing countries adapt to the inevitable effects of climate change, building on the historic results of the Durban Climate Change Conference last year. The Bonn UN Climate... Read more » |
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