Chapter 20—Where climate change hits vulnerable systems—Major climate risks in European mountains.

Zebisch, Marc, Crespi, Alice, Schneiderbauer, Stefan and Bustillos Ardaya, Alicia, "Chapter 20—Where climate change hits vulnerable systems—Major climate risks in European mountains." in Safeguarding Mountain Social-Ecological Systems: Building Transformative Resilience in Mountain Regions Worldwide ed. Schneiderbauer, Stefan, Fontanella Pisa, Paola, Shroder, John and Szarzynski, Joerg (Amsterdam: Elsevier Inc., 2024), 157-172.

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  • Author Zebisch, Marc
    Crespi, Alice
    Schneiderbauer, Stefan
    Bustillos Ardaya, Alicia
    Book Editor Schneiderbauer, Stefan
    Fontanella Pisa, Paola
    Shroder, John
    Szarzynski, Joerg
    Chapter Title Chapter 20—Where climate change hits vulnerable systems—Major climate risks in European mountains.
    Book Title Safeguarding Mountain Social-Ecological Systems: Building Transformative Resilience in Mountain Regions Worldwide
    Publication Date 2024
    Place of Publication Amsterdam
    Publisher Elsevier Inc.
    Start page 157
    End page 172
    Language eng
    Abstract This chapter discusses climate risks for social–ecological systems in European mountains and some underlying root causes. It is based on a literature review including policy-oriented reports, the authors’ experience, and a nonrepresentative online survey among scientists and practitioners from different mountain regions in Europe. We discuss that European mountains share a particular vulnerability to climate change with mountain ranges all over the world. Melting glaciers and reducing snow cover result in a water regime change. Furthermore, climate change has a measurable impact on biodiversity, the frequency and intensity of climate extremes such as heatwaves as well as natural hazards. However, in contrast to many others, European mountains are at least in part highly developed. This is particularly apparent in the larger valley bottoms where there is often competition for land use between intensive agriculture, densely populated settlements, major transport lines, and other infrastructure. Furthermore, European mountains host millions of visitors every year for winter as well as summer tourism. This high intensity of human activities elevates exposure and partly also vulnerability to climate-related hazards and impacts. This chapter shows that there is an overall clarity in data and perception about the main climate-related hazards in mountainous areas in Europe and their potential direct impacts. However, the contribution of exposure and vulnerability to climate risks as well as cascading hazards and impacts and the resulting risks for social–ecological systems in European mountains require deeper understanding and represent crucial research questions..
    Copyright Holder Elsevier Inc.
    Copyright Year 2024
    Copyright type All rights reserved
    DOI 10.1016/B978-0-443-32824-4.00041-9
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    Created: Mon, 09 Sep 2024, 23:24:58 JST by Aarti Basnyat on behalf of UNU EHS