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 may push Andean species skywardnewsA new study led by researchers at Duke University has identified and mapped hundreds of endemic plant and animal species across 17,000 miles of east-facing Andean uplift, a section ranging through Bolivia and Peru. It found that only 20 percent of areas with the highest levels of biodiversity are protected...
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Conference: Planet Under Pressure 2012 - 26-29 March 2012, London, UKnewsThe 2012 international Planet Under Pressure conference will take place from 26 to 29 March 2012 in London, UK. The conference aims to provide a comprehensive and scientific update on the pressure that planet Earth is now under. Global sustainability scientists, decision-makers in policy, development, business and the wider non-government...
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Are the world's glaciers threatened by climate change?newsA surprising finding comes from a study published in Nature, which claims that the world's largest mountain chain, stretching from the Himalayas to Tian Shan on the border of China and Kyrgyzstan, has lost no ice between 2003 and 2010. The study is the first to survey all the world's...
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Adaptation to Climate Change with a Focus on Rural Areas and IndianewsThe Indo-German project Climate Change Adaptation in Rural Areas of India (CCA RAI, www.ccarai.org), funded by GIZ, is pleased to announce the launch of the book “Adaptation to Climate Change with a Focus on Rural Areas and India“. The publication provides an overview of the main issues in current adaptation...
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USAID funds project to study water reosurces in Asia mountainsnewsA University of Colorado Boulder team is partnering with the United States Agency for International Development to assess snow and glacier contributions to water resources originating in the high mountains of Asia that straddle 10 countries. The four-year study aims to provide a comprehensive and systematic assessment of freshwater resources...
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Innovation in tackling climate changenewsSharing research-based knowledge and promoting innovation are unprecedentedly critical for effective climate change mitigation and adaptation programmes worldwide, particularly in developing countries. This was the focus of the two-day conference (23-24 January) convened in Kathmandu by the Himalayan University Consortium (HUC), supported by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development...
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