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.
![]() 10,000 simulations show warming range of 1.4-3 degrees by 2050newsA study project running almost 10,000 climate simulations on volunteers’ home computers, using a complex atmosphere-ocean climate model, has found that a global warming of 3 degrees Celsius by 2050 is ‘equally plausible’ as a rise of 1.4 degrees, if emissions continue unabated. The forecast range is derived from models... Read more » |
International Conference of Mountain Countries on Climate ChangeeventInternational Conference of Mountain Countries (5-6 April 2012, Nepal) Read more » |
![]() Electronic Forum: Adaptation to climate changes in Amazonian Andes - from 16 to 20 April 2012newsThe Electronic Forum “Adaptation to climate changes in Amazonian Andes” will be held from 16 to 20 April 2012, by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), CARE Perú, the Consortium for the Sustainable Development of Andean Ecoregion (CONDENSAN), the General Secretariat of the Andean Community (SGCAN) and the United... Read more » |
![]() Yosemite’s Alpine Chipmunks Take Genetic Hit from Climate ChangenewsGlobal warming has forced alpine chipmunks in Yosemite to higher ground, prompting a startling decline in the species’ genetic diversity, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. The novel study, recently appeared in the online publication of the journal Nature Climate Change, also shows... Read more » |
![]() Technical Experts – REDD+ and Climate Change Adaptation – application deadline: 31 March 2012newsTetra Tech ARD, an international development consulting firm based in Burlington, Vermont and Washington, D.C., is currently accepting expressions of interest from qualified regional and local technical experts for anticipated USAID-funded climate change adaptation and REDD+ projects in South East Asia and in Latin America and the Caribbean. The projects...
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![]() CIPRA received the Dutch sustainability awardnewsThe International Commission for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA) was awarded the 2012 Sustainability Organization of the Year by the Royal Dutch Mountaineering and Climbing Club (NKVB). In an on-line ballot, Dutch mountaineers from NKVB, the biggest mountaineering club outside of the Alps, voted CIPRA. CIPRA is a non-governmental... Read more » |
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