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Mountains: energy, water and food for life.
The SHARE project: understanding the impacts of climate change

 

Organisers: EvK2Cnr Committee, Milan Municipality-Commission for Mobility, Transportation and the Environment, Milan-Expo 2015 Committee, CNR-Italian National Research Council, in collaboration with UNEP and with the technical cooperation of FAO.

Time and date:  May 27-28 2009

Venue:

The international conference “Mountains: energy, water and food for life. The SHARE project: understanding the impacts of climate change” has been organized in Milan on May 27-28, by the EvK2Cnr Committee, Milan Municipality-Commission for Mobility, Transportation and the Environment, Milan-Expo 2015 Committee, CNR-Italian National Research Council, in collaboration with UNEP and with the technical cooperation of FAO.

The conference also received the High Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic, the patronage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Research, and the Lombardia Region.

The conference gathered 40 researchers and experts to underline how mountains, which are an extraordinary platform for monitoring climate change and its effects, should be considered representative of vast spatial areas, often only theoretically uncontaminated. Mountains influence local and global climates; yet their role is still not entirely understood and only through high altitude research and environmental monitoring, might we increase our knowledge and help guide future policy choices to ensure the conservation and sustainable development of mountain ecosystems.

Atmosphere, climate, water, glaciers, agriculture and biodiversity were the issues discussed by the conference. The role of the mountains as key indicators of climate change was discussed as well as the impact of global warming on mountain ecosystems, focusing particularly on adaptation policies, health, energy, food security.

During the conference the SHARE (Stations at High Altitude for Research on the Environment)  project was presented as well as its scientific and technological contributions to increasing knowledge on climate change and the environment to support sustainable decision making of governments on all levels.

SHARE is an integrated project, promoted by Ev-K2-CNR Committee, for environmental monitoring and research in the mountain areas of Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.

The SHARE network, comprising stations in Europe, Asia and Africa monitoring the environment and atmosphere, contributes to international integrated scientific projects on the climate and environment, such as: UNEP-ABC, WMO-GAW, WCRP-GEWEX–CEOP, NASA-AERONET, ILTER, EUSAAR

SHARE promotes the multidisciplinary study of the phenomena linked to global change, developing research activities in six thematic areas: atmosphere, glaciology, energy and water cycle, limnology, biodiversity and natural resources, and medicine.

However, the SHARE project doesn’t just monitor and collect atmospheric data. Besides this principal activity, other complementary actions have been fostered, including the development of innovative technologies in the field of climate and environmental monitoring. A sophisticated technological system called Nano-SHARE has just been tested in the Khumbu valley. This innovative system, extremely agile and sophisticated, will enable to carry out measurements in remote sites where the construction of a laboratory or a standard monitoring station would be too difficult or expensive. It uses renewable energy sources with low environmental impact.
Another related ongoing activity is the creation of an integrated climatic and environmental information system about mountains. This project, undertaken in cooperation with UNEP-Vienna, will enable a synergic collection of information organized in a multidisciplinary database, available to governmental, as well as to non-governmental stakeholders and to the international scientific community.

Conference Goal:
Contribute to the understanding of current and future climate change processes, so as to predict possible environmental, economic and social impacts, in particular on agriculture, trade and the health and wellbeing of millions. By promoting management-oriented research, driven by decision makers in line with local sustainable development needs, demonstrating Italy’s commitment through the SHARE project and promoting dialogue and exchange amongst international studies, networks and programs.

Conference Target Audience:
The conference was mainly composed of representatives of the international scientific community, along with contributions from the Italian Government and intergovernmental agencies. Appropriate global media coverage has been obtained to simultaneously help raise public awareness.

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