UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres calls on mountain countries to take bold action on climate change mitigation and adaption
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Mountains and climate change
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.
Journalists blog about their Alpine tournewsThe first blog entries of the journalists who participated in the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention’s ‘We are Alps’ tour are now online. On 29 June - 5 July 2016, ten journalists crossed the Alps with the aim of raising awareness on the challenges and opportunities of...
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Mountain communities call for climate actionnewsAs half of the world's population relies on mountains for their water, 18 indigenous mountain communities call for support to strengthen traditional natural resource management systems. Mountain communities are among the most vulnerable to climate change, with many communities already suffering due to erratic rainfall, drought, increased temperatures and pests, as...
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Call for mountain photographs for IMDpeak to peak Issue 94 – Month 7 – Year 2016 Download » |
Action called for livestock in mountainsnewsIn order to facilitate an open and inclusive platform for dialogue and building consensus on global sustainability issues related to livestock, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), together with partner organizations, held the 6th Multiple-Stakeholder Partnership meeting on 20-23 June in Panama City, Panama. During the meeting, the future of...
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Newsletter for West Africa mountainsnewsThe Platform of Civil Society Organization for the Safeguard of Mountains (PSM) began a newsletter for green actors in seven countries of West Africa. PSM is a platform for the stability of mountains and the wellbeing of mountain communities in West Africa and includes some Mountain Partnership members. With the release...
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Alpine Summer SchooleventThe Italian-French summer school, "Fundamental processes in geophysical fluid dynamics and the climate system," is organized each year by the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC) - CNR (Turin, Italy) and by the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France). This year the ten-day course is dedicated to understanding...
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