Responding to climate change in the mountains: Opportunities for ... - ReliefWeb

Responding to climate change in the mountains: Opportunities for parliamentarians to act - World | ReliefWeb

Mountains are vital ecosystems for people and the planet. They provide freshwater for half of the world’s population and host rich biodiversity and cultural importance for communities around the world. Unfortunately, they are also facing some of the clearest indications of climate change – rapid temperature warming and melting glaciers, more frequent and intense natural hazards, and changing precipitation patterns that can have severe impacts on ecosystems and human wellbeing.

Mountains are also particularly vulnerable to these impacts, with rugged conditions and a lack of adequate infrastructure to adapt to worsening conditions. These factors threaten livelihoods and may be a source of conflict and displacement in the future, creating further challenges to be dealt with. Moreover, the consequences of climate change in the mountains do not remain in the mountains, but spread throughout the lowlands and reverberate across countries and regions around the globe. As climate warming continues, these consequences are intensifying.

The purpose of this issue brief is to help parliamentarians respond effectively to these conditions by providing them with an understanding of how climate effects in the mountains create downstream repercussions, and by identifying policies and actions they can take across the range of potential impacts. Parliamentarians are responsible for representing the mountains in their countries, and their decisions often have long-term impacts on mountainous environments and the people who live there.

Conditions in the mountains

About 15 per cent of the world’s population, or 1.2 billion people, live in mountain regions. About 90 per cent of these people live in developing countries, and about 65 per cent live in rural areas. In general, poverty levels are higher in mountain areas, and food insecurity threatens some 346 million people. More than 100 countries have mountains, and many others depend on mountains in neighbouring countries for ecosystem services such as freshwater supply.

Increasing temperatures in the mountains are accompanied by changes in seasonal weather patterns, the melting of glaciers, the thawing of permafrost, and reductions in the extent and duration of snow cover. Even in the best-case scenario, half of the world’s glaciers are projected to disappear by the end of the century, increasing sea level by 115 millimeters and putting more than 10 million people below the high tide line. Glaciers also store 70% of the world’s freshwater, providing water supply for up to 2 billion people. Additionally, the number of extreme precipitation events is increasing, threatening communities and ecosystems with flooding and destabilizing slopes. Other areas that face a reduction in precipitation are at risk from droughts, impacting agriculture and livelihoods.

These conditions increase the potential for compounding and cascading hazards – floods, landslides and debris flows – that grow more intense as they move downhill. The results can include dam failures and damage to roads and infrastructure. Losses of property, livelihoods and lives can occur in the mountains and far downstream, and may cross international borders.

Warmer temperatures and drier conditions increase the occurrence and severity of wildfires, the effects of which include a reduction in the quantity and quality of freshwater, the loss of habitat that supports biodiversity, and an increase in soil erosion and landslide risks.

The earth experienced its hottest three-month period on record in 2023, with wildfires raging in Algeria,

Canada, Greece, Italy, and Spain, causing evacuations and subsequent increased emissions. Such wildfires also displace and kill animals, and compound the risk of extinction for species that need to move to higher elevations or other cooler locations to adjust to the warming climate.

Changing patterns in the timing and extent of the seasons are undermining mountain tourism, particularly for winter recreation by reducing snow availability in ski resorts. Reductions in the amount of snow at lower elevations have made operating conditions difficult, and climaterelated hazards are creating more risks along climbing, hiking and mountaineering routes.