Scientists’ warning of the impacts of climate change on mountains
Mountains are highly diverse in areal extent, geological and climatic context, ecosystems and human activity. As such, mountain environments worldwide are particularly sensitive to the effects of anthropogenic climate change (global warming) as a result of their unique heat balance properties and th...
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crpeerj:10.7717/peerj.14253 2024-06-23T07:53:39+00:00 Scientists’ warning of the impacts of climate change on mountains Knight, Jasper 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.14253 https://peerj.com/articles/14253.pdf https://peerj.com/articles/14253.xml https://peerj.com/articles/14253.html en eng PeerJ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ PeerJ volume 10, page e14253 ISSN 2167-8359 journal-article 2022 crpeerj https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.14253 2024-06-11T04:28:37Z Mountains are highly diverse in areal extent, geological and climatic context, ecosystems and human activity. As such, mountain environments worldwide are particularly sensitive to the effects of anthropogenic climate change (global warming) as a result of their unique heat balance properties and the presence of climatically-sensitive snow, ice, permafrost and ecosystems. Consequently, mountain systems—in particular cryospheric ones—are currently undergoing unprecedented changes in the Anthropocene. This study identifies and discusses four of the major properties of mountains upon which anthropogenic climate change can impact, and indeed is already doing so. These properties are: the changing mountain cryosphere of glaciers and permafrost; mountain hazards and risk; mountain ecosystems and their services; and mountain communities and infrastructure. It is notable that changes in these different mountain properties do not follow a predictable trajectory of evolution in response to anthropogenic climate change. This demonstrates that different elements of mountain systems exhibit different sensitivities to forcing. The interconnections between these different properties highlight that mountains should be considered as integrated biophysical systems, of which human activity is part. Interrelationships between these mountain properties are discussed through a model of mountain socio-biophysical systems, which provides a framework for examining climate impacts and vulnerabilities. Managing the risks associated with ongoing climate change in mountains requires an integrated approach to climate change impacts monitoring and management. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice permafrost PeerJ Publishing PeerJ 10 e14253 |
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Mountains are highly diverse in areal extent, geological and climatic context, ecosystems and human activity. As such, mountain environments worldwide are particularly sensitive to the effects of anthropogenic climate change (global warming) as a result of their unique heat balance properties and the presence of climatically-sensitive snow, ice, permafrost and ecosystems. Consequently, mountain systems—in particular cryospheric ones—are currently undergoing unprecedented changes in the Anthropocene. This study identifies and discusses four of the major properties of mountains upon which anthropogenic climate change can impact, and indeed is already doing so. These properties are: the changing mountain cryosphere of glaciers and permafrost; mountain hazards and risk; mountain ecosystems and their services; and mountain communities and infrastructure. It is notable that changes in these different mountain properties do not follow a predictable trajectory of evolution in response to anthropogenic climate change. This demonstrates that different elements of mountain systems exhibit different sensitivities to forcing. The interconnections between these different properties highlight that mountains should be considered as integrated biophysical systems, of which human activity is part. Interrelationships between these mountain properties are discussed through a model of mountain socio-biophysical systems, which provides a framework for examining climate impacts and vulnerabilities. Managing the risks associated with ongoing climate change in mountains requires an integrated approach to climate change impacts monitoring and management. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Knight, Jasper |
spellingShingle |
Knight, Jasper Scientists’ warning of the impacts of climate change on mountains |
author_facet |
Knight, Jasper |
author_sort |
Knight, Jasper |
title |
Scientists’ warning of the impacts of climate change on mountains |
title_short |
Scientists’ warning of the impacts of climate change on mountains |
title_full |
Scientists’ warning of the impacts of climate change on mountains |
title_fullStr |
Scientists’ warning of the impacts of climate change on mountains |
title_full_unstemmed |
Scientists’ warning of the impacts of climate change on mountains |
title_sort |
scientists’ warning of the impacts of climate change on mountains |
publisher |
PeerJ |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.14253 https://peerj.com/articles/14253.pdf https://peerj.com/articles/14253.xml https://peerj.com/articles/14253.html |
genre |
Ice permafrost |
genre_facet |
Ice permafrost |
op_source |
PeerJ volume 10, page e14253 ISSN 2167-8359 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.14253 |
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PeerJ |
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10 |
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e14253 |
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1802645412642816000 |