4 hours ago
https://e3.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1106875
PRESS RELEASE: The international study, published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, examines what scientists call "elevation-dependent climate change" (EDCC) - the phenomenon where environmental changes can accelerate at higher altitudes.
It represents the most thorough analysis to date of how temperature, rainfall, and snowfall patterns are shifting across the world's mountain ranges.
Led by Associate Professor Dr Nick Pepin from the University of Portsmouth, the research team analysed data from multiple sources including global gridded datasets, alongside detailed case studies from specific mountain ranges including the Rocky Mountains, the Alps, the Andes, and the Tibetan Plateau.
The findings reveal alarming trends between 1980 and 2020:
The implications extend far beyond mountain communities. Over one billion people worldwide depend on mountain snow and glaciers for water, including in China and India - the world's two largest countries by population - who receive water from the Himalayas.
Dr Pepin added: “The Himalayan ice is decreasing more rapidly than we thought. When you transition from snowfall to rain because it has become warmer, you're more likely to get devastating floods. Hazardous events also become more extreme.”
"As temperatures rise, trees and animals are moving higher up the mountains, chasing cooler conditions. But eventually in some cases they'll run out of mountain and be pushed off the top. With nowhere left to go, species may be lost and ecosystems fundamentally changed.”
Recent events highlight the urgency. Dr Pepin points to this summer in Pakistan, which experienced some of its deadliest monsoon weather in years, with cloudbursts and extreme mountain rainfall killing over 1,000 people... (MORE - details)
PRESS RELEASE: The international study, published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, examines what scientists call "elevation-dependent climate change" (EDCC) - the phenomenon where environmental changes can accelerate at higher altitudes.
It represents the most thorough analysis to date of how temperature, rainfall, and snowfall patterns are shifting across the world's mountain ranges.
Led by Associate Professor Dr Nick Pepin from the University of Portsmouth, the research team analysed data from multiple sources including global gridded datasets, alongside detailed case studies from specific mountain ranges including the Rocky Mountains, the Alps, the Andes, and the Tibetan Plateau.
The findings reveal alarming trends between 1980 and 2020:
- Temperature: Mountain regions on average are warming 0.21°C per century faster than surrounding lowlands
- Precipitation and snow: Mountains are experiencing more unpredictable rainfall and a significant change from snow to rain
The implications extend far beyond mountain communities. Over one billion people worldwide depend on mountain snow and glaciers for water, including in China and India - the world's two largest countries by population - who receive water from the Himalayas.
Dr Pepin added: “The Himalayan ice is decreasing more rapidly than we thought. When you transition from snowfall to rain because it has become warmer, you're more likely to get devastating floods. Hazardous events also become more extreme.”
"As temperatures rise, trees and animals are moving higher up the mountains, chasing cooler conditions. But eventually in some cases they'll run out of mountain and be pushed off the top. With nowhere left to go, species may be lost and ecosystems fundamentally changed.”
Recent events highlight the urgency. Dr Pepin points to this summer in Pakistan, which experienced some of its deadliest monsoon weather in years, with cloudbursts and extreme mountain rainfall killing over 1,000 people... (MORE - details)