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.
![]() 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 » |
![]() European Mountain Plant Population Shows Delayed Response to Climate ChangenewsPlant species are expected to respond to a warming climate by moving their ranges pole-wards or up-wards in mountains. A European team of ecologists led by Stefan Dullinger from the Department of Conservation Biology, Vegetation and Landscape Ecology of the University of Vienna presents a new modelling tool to predict... Read more » |
![]() International Conference on Agriculture and Environment (ICAE)eventThe ICAE, organized under the theme "Agricultural Production and Economic Growth in Harmony with the Environment: a Shared Vision in the Context of Climate Change", will be held from 9 to 12 May 2012. The Conference will be hosted by the Honduran Government and Zamorano University, with support from the... Read more » |
![]() Asian glaciers bucking trend of climate change ice meltnewsBucking the global trend, glaciers in the Karakoram region, north of the Himalaya, have been shown to be growing, gaining as much water from precipitation as they were losing from melting, bucking the global trend. The new study of the Karakoram used French satellite measurements to predict changes in the... Read more » |
![]() Pakistan’s first climate change adaptation plan to tackle “mountain tsunamis”newsPakistan, with its 5,218 glaciers and 2420 glacial lakes – 52 of which have been classified as potentially dangerous – has launched its first climate change adaptation project aimed at tackling the threats communities face from bursting glacier lakes in the country’s northern mountains. The US$ 4.1 million project in... Read more » |
![]() The Role of Science Technology and Innovation in Emerging EconomieseventThe conference will be held on 26-27 April 2012 at New Chelsea Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria, by the Nigerian Association of Science Journalists (NASJ) in collaboration with Science Development Network (SciDev.Net). The aim is to strengthen the relationship between journalists, public relations officers and scientists in order to improve the quality... Read more » |
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