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.
Climate change scientists look back 3 million years to look to the futurenewsTo figure out what global warming could bring to Earth, scientists are looking 3 million years into the past. They have concluded that it is Pliocene Epoch, a warm and wet period between 3.15 million and 2.85 million years ago, the slice of time in which the world probably looked...
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Climate Change and Biodiversity in the Tropical AndespublicationThe threats to the unique biodiversity of the Tropical Andes, from global climate change and human population growth lead to a new publication, “Climate Change and Biodiversity in the Tropical Andes”, edited by Sebastian K. Herzog, Rodney Martinez, Peter M. Jørgensen, Holm Tiessen. The volume, a product of the project... Download » |
Matterhorn disintegrating in the face of global warmingnewsThe University of Zurich reported the negative effects climate change is having on the Matterhorn in the Geophysical Research journal. The 14,690 foot high Matterhorn sits on the border between Switzerland and Italy and is one of the most majestic and best known and most inspirational mountains in the world....
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Indo-French project to study effects of climate change on farmingnewsOn 9 April, the Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (CEFIPRA) launched a multi-disciplinary Indo-French research project titled ‘Adaptation of Irrigated Agriculture to Climate Change (AICHA). The study aims at developing an integrated model for analysing the impact of climate change on ground water-irrigated agriculture and for identifying...
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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...
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International Conference of Mountain Countries on Climate ChangeeventInternational Conference of Mountain Countries (5-6 April 2012, Nepal)
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