Is climate change responsible for changing landslide activity in high mountains?
Climate change, manifested by an increase in mean, minimum, and maximum temperatures and by more intense rainstorms, is becoming more evident in many regions. An important consequence of these changes may be an increase in landslides in high mountains. More research, however, is necessary to detect...
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ftunivzuerich:oai:www.zora.uzh.ch:75538 2024-09-30T14:36:25+00:00 Is climate change responsible for changing landslide activity in high mountains? Huggel, Christian Clague, John J Korup, Oliver 2012 application/pdf https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/75538/ https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/75538/1/2012_HuggelC_esp2223.pdf https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-75538 https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.2223 eng eng Wiley-Blackwell https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/75538/1/2012_HuggelC_esp2223.pdf doi:10.5167/uzh-75538 doi:10.1002/esp.2223 urn:issn:0197-9337 info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Huggel, Christian; Clague, John J; Korup, Oliver (2012). Is climate change responsible for changing landslide activity in high mountains? Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 37(1):77-91. Institute of Geography 910 Geography & travel Earth-Surface Processes Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) Geography Planning and Development Journal Article PeerReviewed info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2012 ftunivzuerich https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-7553810.1002/esp.2223 2024-09-11T00:49:01Z Climate change, manifested by an increase in mean, minimum, and maximum temperatures and by more intense rainstorms, is becoming more evident in many regions. An important consequence of these changes may be an increase in landslides in high mountains. More research, however, is necessary to detect changes in landslide magnitude and frequency related to contemporary climate, particularly in alpine regions hosting glaciers, permafrost, and snow. These regions not only are sensitive to changes in both temperature and precipitation, but are also areas in which landslides are ubiquitous even under a stable climate. We analyze a series of catastrophic slope failures that occurred in the mountains of Europe, the Americas, and the Caucasus since the end of the 1990s. We distinguish between rock and ice avalanches, debris flows from de-glaciated areas, and landslides that involve dynamic interactions with glacial and river processes. Analysis of these events indicates several important controls on slope stability in high mountains, including: the non-linear response of firn and ice to warming; three-dimensional warming of subsurface bedrock and its relation to site geology; de-glaciation accompanied by exposure of new sediment; and combined short-term effects of precipitation and temperature. Based on several case studies, we propose that the following mechanisms can significantly alter landslide magnitude and frequency, and thus hazard, under warming conditions: (1) positive feedbacks acting on mass movement processes that after an initial climatic stimulus may evolve independently of climate change; (2) threshold behavior and tipping points in geomorphic systems; (3) storage of sediment and ice involving important lag-time effects. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice permafrost University of Zurich (UZH): ZORA (Zurich Open Repository and Archive |
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Open Polar |
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University of Zurich (UZH): ZORA (Zurich Open Repository and Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivzuerich |
language |
English |
topic |
Institute of Geography 910 Geography & travel Earth-Surface Processes Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) Geography Planning and Development |
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Institute of Geography 910 Geography & travel Earth-Surface Processes Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) Geography Planning and Development Huggel, Christian Clague, John J Korup, Oliver Is climate change responsible for changing landslide activity in high mountains? |
topic_facet |
Institute of Geography 910 Geography & travel Earth-Surface Processes Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) Geography Planning and Development |
description |
Climate change, manifested by an increase in mean, minimum, and maximum temperatures and by more intense rainstorms, is becoming more evident in many regions. An important consequence of these changes may be an increase in landslides in high mountains. More research, however, is necessary to detect changes in landslide magnitude and frequency related to contemporary climate, particularly in alpine regions hosting glaciers, permafrost, and snow. These regions not only are sensitive to changes in both temperature and precipitation, but are also areas in which landslides are ubiquitous even under a stable climate. We analyze a series of catastrophic slope failures that occurred in the mountains of Europe, the Americas, and the Caucasus since the end of the 1990s. We distinguish between rock and ice avalanches, debris flows from de-glaciated areas, and landslides that involve dynamic interactions with glacial and river processes. Analysis of these events indicates several important controls on slope stability in high mountains, including: the non-linear response of firn and ice to warming; three-dimensional warming of subsurface bedrock and its relation to site geology; de-glaciation accompanied by exposure of new sediment; and combined short-term effects of precipitation and temperature. Based on several case studies, we propose that the following mechanisms can significantly alter landslide magnitude and frequency, and thus hazard, under warming conditions: (1) positive feedbacks acting on mass movement processes that after an initial climatic stimulus may evolve independently of climate change; (2) threshold behavior and tipping points in geomorphic systems; (3) storage of sediment and ice involving important lag-time effects. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Huggel, Christian Clague, John J Korup, Oliver |
author_facet |
Huggel, Christian Clague, John J Korup, Oliver |
author_sort |
Huggel, Christian |
title |
Is climate change responsible for changing landslide activity in high mountains? |
title_short |
Is climate change responsible for changing landslide activity in high mountains? |
title_full |
Is climate change responsible for changing landslide activity in high mountains? |
title_fullStr |
Is climate change responsible for changing landslide activity in high mountains? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Is climate change responsible for changing landslide activity in high mountains? |
title_sort |
is climate change responsible for changing landslide activity in high mountains? |
publisher |
Wiley-Blackwell |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/75538/ https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/75538/1/2012_HuggelC_esp2223.pdf https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-75538 https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.2223 |
genre |
Ice permafrost |
genre_facet |
Ice permafrost |
op_source |
Huggel, Christian; Clague, John J; Korup, Oliver (2012). Is climate change responsible for changing landslide activity in high mountains? Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 37(1):77-91. |
op_relation |
https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/75538/1/2012_HuggelC_esp2223.pdf doi:10.5167/uzh-75538 doi:10.1002/esp.2223 urn:issn:0197-9337 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-7553810.1002/esp.2223 |
_version_ |
1811639479022125056 |