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Climate change in mountain regions: a marginal issue?

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Summary

Mountain regions comprise one-fifth of the world's land surface. They are home to a tenth and important in the lives of half of humankind. Yet mountains are often regarded as physically, politically and economically marginal; their importance has only recently been globally recognized. The potential impacts of climate change in mountain regions will vary considerably between different types of regions. These are briefly described, as an introduction to an evaluation of the potential impacts with regard to agriculture, forestry, water resources, tourism, energy, transport and health. It is concluded that climate change cannot be considered a marginal issue and that the ability of mountain and ‘downstream’ people to adapt and respond in the long term will require attention to the maintenance and use of local knowledge and cooperative social networks, as well as considerable scientific research.

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    Martin F. Price

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Dr Martin Price obtained his Ph.D from the University of Colorado at Boulder, following a first degree at the University of Sheffield and an MSc from the University of Calgary, Canada. He is currently the Programme Leader for the Mountain Regions Programme at the Environmental Change Unit at the University of Oxford. This paper was presented at the Global Forum '94 Academic Conference and it represents a revision of an article by the author in Beniston (1994).

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Price, M.F. Climate change in mountain regions: a marginal issue?. Environmentalist 15, 272–280 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01902249

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