Mountains and Climate Change: A Global Concern
BACKGROUND
Mountains play a significant role as global biodiversity hotspots and sources of fresh water. However, climate change implications may have negative effects on the services they provide such as water availability, irrigation, urbanization, industrialization, and hydropower generation. Negative climate change impacts may also expose the mountains to more intense and frequent hazards.
CONCLUSIONS AND TAKEAWAYS
Authors emphasize the need for climate change action embedded in a general framework for these mountains. They also emphasize the need for research, which would play a key role in sensitizing policy makers and the public about climate change impacts on mountains and in designing integrated mitigation and adaptation measures. Communities around these mountains need be more involved in mountain resources stewardship. Furthermore, there is need for financial and institutional support towards poverty reduction, for a better future in mountain regions as most of them are in developing countries.
Reference:
Mountains and Climate Change: A Global Concern. Mountain Research and Development. 2010;30:53–55. doi:10.1659/mrd-journal-d-09-00086.1.
Affiliation:
- Centre for Development and Environment, Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 10, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
- Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Freiburgstrasse 130, 3003 Bern, Switzerland