Climate change

Human activities are profoundly affecting the world’s climate, and mountains are a sensitive indicator of that effect. For this reason, 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.

Each day, the burning of fossil fuels produces greenhouse gases that enhance the heat-trapping capability of the earth’s atmosphere, gradually raising the planet’s temperature. Some climate models predict that average global temperatures will rise between 1.4 and 5.8°C by the year 2100 and temperature increases will be greater close to the Poles. Among the consequences imagined, fierce storms will become more frequent and sea levels are expected to rise, causing flooding and untold damage to island nations and low-lying coastal communities.

Because of their altitude, slope and orientation to the sun, mountain ecosystems are easily disrupted by variations in climate. 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 people, already among the world’s poorest citizens, face greater hardships.  Changes in the depth of mountain glaciers and in their seasonal melting patterns will have an enormous impact on water resources in many parts of the world. As glaciers melt and retreat, life forms are also profoundly affected.

Mountain people, as well as many other animal and plant species, will have to adapt to changes – or leave their homes as traditional sources of food. At the same time, mountains will become more dangerous as melted permafrost and glacial run-off accelerate soil erosion as well as the likelihood of falling rocks, landslides, floods and avalanches. Extreme events and catastrophes, as well as infectious diseases – carried by insects that are spreading to higher altitudes as temperatures warm - are predicted to become more and more common. With few resources, mountain people are likely to be among global warming’s greatest victims if human activities that contribute to climate change are not soon reversed.