Alps

Glacier changes in the Bavarian Alps from 1989/90 to 2006/07

The five glaciers in Bavaria which today cover a total area of less than one square kilometer were frequently monitored by geodetic methods from the mid of the 20th century. In this paper, the record is extended by new surveys in 1999 and 2006. The glaciers show a prolonged surface …

Glacier changes in the Bavarian Alps from 1989/90 to 2006/07

The five glaciers in Bavaria which today cover a total area of less than one square kilometer were frequently monitored by geodetic methods from the mid of the 20th century. In this paper, the record is extended by new surveys in 1999 and 2006. The glaciers show a prolonged surface …

Changing seasonality of moderate and extreme precipitation events in the Alps

The intensity of precipitation events is expected to increase in the future. The rate of increase depends on the strength or rarity of the events; very strong and rare events tend to follow the Clausius-Clapeyron relation, whereas weaker events or precipitation averages do not. An often overlooked aspect is seasonal …

Global-scale hydrological response to future glacier mass loss

Worldwide glacier retreat and associated future runoff changes raise major concerns over the sustainability of global water resources, but global-scale assessments of glacier decline and the resulting hydrological consequences are scarce. Here we compute global glacier runoff changes for 56 large-scale glacierized drainage basins to 2100 and analyse the glacial …

Tree growth acceleration and expansion of alpine forests: The synergistic effect of atmospheric and edaphic change

Many forest ecosystems have experienced recent declines in productivity; however, in some alpine regions, tree growth and forest expansion are increasing at marked rates. Dendrochronological analyses at the upper limit of alpine forests in the Tibetan Plateau show a steady increase in tree growth since the early 1900s, which intensified …

Negative elevation-dependent warming trend in the Eastern Alps

Mountain regions and the important ecosystem services they provide are considered to be very vulnerable to the current warming, and recent studies suggest that high-mountain environments experience more rapid changes in temperature than environments at lower elevations. Here we analysed weather records for the period 1975–2010 from the Eastern Italian …

Climate anomalies associated to the occurrence of rockfalls at high-elevation in the Italian Alps

Climate change is seriously affecting the cryosphere, in terms, for example of permafrost thaw, alteration of rain/snow ratio, glacier shrinkage. There is concern about the increasing number of rockfalls at high elevation in the last decades. Nevertheless, the impact of climate variables on slope instability at high elevation has not …

Landslide in Italian Alps kills three

Three people were killed when a severe rainstorm in the Italian Alps caused a landslide that swept down a mountain and across roads and parking lots, authorities said on Wednesday. The landslide occurred late on Tuesday near San Vito di Cadore, close to the ski resort town of Cortina d'Ampezzo. …

Functional homogenization of bumblebee communities in alpine landscapes under projected climate change

Bumblebees represent an active pollinator group in mountain regions and assure the pollination of many different plant species from low to high elevations. Plant-pollinator interactions are mediated by functional traits. Shift in bumblebee functional structure under climate change may impact plant-pollinator interactions in mountains. Here, the researchers estimated bumblebee upward …

Extinction debt of high-mountain plants under twenty-first-century climate change

Using information on current species distributions and dispersal traits, this study forecasts climate-driven range dynamics of plant species across the European Alps. Simulations predict moderate range contractions over the twenty-first century; however, more severe effects of climate warming on mountain plant diversity are expected in the longer term.

Extrapolating glacier mass balance to the mountain-range scale: the European Alps 1900–2100

This study addresses the extrapolation of in-situ glacier mass balance measurements to the mountain-range scale and aims at deriving time series of area-averaged mass balance and ice volume change for all glaciers in the European Alps for the period 1900–2100. Long-term mass balance series for 50 Swiss glaciers based on …

"Alps Under The Ice" Gives Clues To Global Warming

The mystery of how a subglacial mountain range the size of the Alps formed up to 250 million years ago has finally been solved, scientists said on Wednesday, which could help map the effects of climate change. The Gamburtsev subglacial mountains are buried 3 km below the East Antarctic Ice …

Dust inputs and bacteria influence dissolved organic matter in clear alpine lakes

Remote lakes are usually unaffected by direct human infl uence, yet they receive inputs of atmospheric pollutants, dust, and other aerosols, both inorganic and organic. In remote, alpine lakes, these atmospheric inputs may infl uence the pool of dissolved organic matter, a critical constituent for the biogeochemical functioning of aquatic …

Climatic warming disrupts recurrent Alpine insect outbreaks

Climate change has been identified as a causal factor for diverse ecological changes worldwide. Warming trends over the last couple of decades have coincided with the collapse of long-term population cycles in a broad range of taxa, although causal mechanisms are not well-understood. Larch budmoth (LBM) population dynamics across the …

Glaciers wane not all down to humans

The Great Aletsch Glacier is ill. Over the course of the twentieth century, the largest Alpine glacier, in Valais, Switzerland, receded by more than two kilometres, and Switzerland

Assessment of snow, glacier and water resources in Asia

The topic of water availability and the possible effects of climate change on water resources are of paramount importance to the Central Asian countries. In the last decades, water supply security has turned out to be one of the major challenges for these countries. The supply initially ensured by snow …

Hydrological extremes in small basins

This volume constitutes the proceedings of the 12th Biennial Conference of the Euromediterranean Network of Representative and Experimental Basins (ERB) held in Krakow, Poland, from 18-20 September 2008. The conference addressed the issue of hydrological extremes in small basins and was organized by the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management …

The geographic footprint of glacier change

Alpine glaciers leave spectacular records of climate change. Lakes, moraines, and other landforms shaped by past glacier advances and retreats dominate the foreground of nearly all mountain landscapes. These glacial deposits are rich records of past climate that are widespread, obvious, and easily accessible. In many regions without sedimentary or …

Alp-sized peaks found below Antarctic ice

Experts Use Radar And Gravity Sensors To Make First Detailed Maps Of Subglacial Mountain Range Oslo: Jagged mountains the size of the Alps have been found entombed in Antarctica

Impacts of Europe's changing climate

Global climate change is a reality. In Europe the most vulnerable regions are the Arctic, mountain areas, coastal zones and the Mediterranean. Key economic sectors, which will need to adapt include energy supply, health, water management, agriculture, forestry, tourism and transport.

Glacier melts, 5000-yr secret out

Objects Of Neolithic Era Found High In The Alps In Warming Fallout Bern: Some 5,000 years ago a prehistoric person trod high up in what is now the Swiss Alps, wearing goat leather pants, leather shoes and armed with a bow and arrows. The unremarkable journey through the Schnidejoch pass, …

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