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.
Landscape experts met in the European AlpsnewsAround 200 participants from the Americas, Asia and Europe met at the Permanent European Conference for the Study of the Rural Landscape (PECSRL) 2016 conference in Innsbruck and Seefeld, Austria to discuss the past, present and future of rural mountain landscapes. Hosted by the Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research...
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Drying causes Mount Kenya glacier to meltnewsA study published in Cryosphere earlier this year has found that the largest glacier on Mount Kenya, the Lewis Glacier, is melting because of decreasing atmospheric moisture rather than increasing temperatures. In the tropical climate of East Africa, glaciers are an unexpected, yet vitally important part of the ecosystem. Since...
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Climate change in mountain valleys in PakistannewsSardari, Helmat and Taobat are the last three villages in the upper Neelum Valley in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan known for their pristine, moist temperate forests and alpine pastures. In an interview on 24 August 2016 about the impacts of climate change in the valley, Abdul Rehman, a teacher at Government...
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The value of carbon stored in mountainsnewsAdrian Ward, focal point of the University of Queensland’s CarbonLab is sharing his recently completed doctoral thesis revealing the economic value of carbon dioxide sequestered by mountain grasslands and shrublands is between USD 1.24 billion and 11.8 billion per annum, in climate regulation terms. His thesis, “The extent and...
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The growing profile of glaciers in PerunewsWith the creation of the National Institute for Research in Glaciers and Mountain Ecosystems (INAIGEM), Peru’s national government is strengthening its role in investigating the nexus of climate change, glacial recession, natural hazards and the management of water and other mountain-based ecosystem services in the Central Andes. The...
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National climate change plans cite mountainspeak to peakIssue 96 – Month 9 – Year 2016 The September issue of Peak to Peak reveals that 48 countries mentioned mountains in their national climate change plans to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The newsletter continues with stories about an agro-ecology training in the... Download » |
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