UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres calls on mountain countries to take bold action on climate change mitigation and adaption
External links
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.
Why mountains matter for Central, Eastern and South-Eastern EuropepublicationPolicy brief presented at Rio+20
The mountains of Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe have played a key social, economic and environmental role in the development of the nations and peoples that have resided there since time immemorial. Being both natural barriers and safe havens not only... Download » |
Bolivian President Evo Morales Promotes Quinoa Against Food CrisisnewsOn Monday, Bolivian President Evo Morales praised the quinoa plant, a neglected mountain crop popular among health-conscious foodies, as a way to help solve the global food crisis. "Faced with the global food crisis, the Andean people have various responses and one of them is quinoa," said Morales during a...
|
Where Have All The Hummingbirds Gone?newsThe glacier lily, as it is called, is a tall, willowy plant that graces mountain meadows throughout western North America. It flowers early in spring, when the first bumblebees and hummingbirds appear. But the glacier lily is fast becoming a hothouse flower. In Earth’s warming temperatures, its first...
|
Reflections to Review: Climate Adaptation in HimalayanewsRecognizing the climatic changes and their impacts in Himalayan Mountains, Prakriti, a mountain environment group (and Mountain Partnership member) based in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, India founded a Pan-Himalayan initiative called ‘Climate Himalaya’ to divest its efforts in Climate Adaptation and Sustainable Mountain Development. The initiative was launched formally on...
|
Study Finds There’s Still Hope For Himalayan GlaciersnewsPrevious fears regarding the Himalayan glacier may have been unduly warranted, according to the results of the HIGHNOON (Adaption to changing water resources availability in northern India with Himalayan glacier retreat and changing monsoon pattern) project. Researchers led by the University of Zurich in Switzerland claim that previous...
|
AfDB and WWF to launch Africa Ecological Footprint ReportnewsThe African Development Bank (AfDB) and global conservation group WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) have launched today a joint report on the state of Africa’s environment. The Africa Ecological Footprint Report takes stock of the health of Africa’s ecosystems, as well as trends in resources use...
|
Mountain Partnership
| Our work
| Focus areas
| Follow Us
Subscribe to Peak to Peak Newsletter
|