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Making Connections for Our Changing Mountains
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Dear MRI Community,
Today, 28 February 2022, we see the release of Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, the Working Group II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This includes the report’s Cross-Chapter Paper on Mountains, which synthesizes mountain-specific evidence and assessments from across all topics and regions covered in AR6 – and for which we have been proud to serve as Co-Leads and Lead Authors.
The report’s findings are unequivocal: climate change is a threat to human well-being and the health of the planet. Without immediate, concerted global efforts, we will miss the rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future. Global warming of 1.1°C has already caused widespread disruption in nature, and affected the lives of billions of people, despite efforts to adapt. In mountain regions specifically, impacts such as glacier retreat and changes to water availability are already lived experiences for people and ecosystems that depend on these resources.
Under current emissions trends, humanity faces unavoidable climate hazards. People living in many mountain regions – already characterised by relatively high vulnerability due to dependence on climate sensitive livelihoods, population displacement, the accelerating loss of ecosystem services, and other limiting socio-economic factors – face rising exposure to risk. These risks can be moderated to some extent through adaptation, although some soft limits to adaptation are already being reached. However, the largest window of opportunity for effective adaptation is by limiting global warming to 1.5°C. Even temporarily exceeding 1.5°C warming lasting up to several decades will result in severe and potentially irreversible impacts, especially in nature.
Action on adaptation has increased but progress is uneven and we are not adapting fast enough. To avoid mounting losses, urgent, accelerated action is needed to adapt to climate change, at the same time as making rapid, deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Adaptation cannot prevent all losses and damages, even with effective adaptation and before reaching limits. Climate resilient development is already challenging at global warming levels of less than 1.5°C. The scope and options will become more limited by 2°C and may not be possible in some regions and sub-regions, including small islands, mountains, and polar regions if warming exceeds 2°C.
The release of this report today should be seen as an urgent call for global action to protect the critical systems upon which we all depend. It is also testament to the efforts of hundreds of scientists worldwide, who worked tirelessly on this key report – often under extremely challenging circumstances. As Co-Leads, we would like to express our sincere thanks to the other six lead authors of the Cross-Chapter Paper on Mountains, the 27 contributing authors, our review editor, and to all of you across the MRI community who provided your valuable expertise during the review stage in support of this important publication for our changing mountains.
With our very best regards, |
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Dr. Carolina Adler and Dr. Philippus Wester
Co-Leads and Lead Authors,
Cross-Chapter Paper on Mountains in the Working Group II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC.
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Human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, despite efforts to reduce the risks. People and ecosystems least able to cope are being hardest hit, say scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, released today.
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The IPCC has opened registration for expert review of its Sixth Assessment Synthesis Report. Given the Synthesis Report’s reference to key IPCC reports published in this assessment cycle with content on mountains, members of the MRI community are encouraged to register to participate. Registration closes 13 March 2022.
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On 10 February 2022, the Mountain Research Initiative and the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) signed a Letter of Understanding to explore the joint promotion and implementation of projects and activities of mutual interest in the areas of research, capacity-building, and the science-policy interface.
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Research led by Dr. Estefania Quenta-Herrera, research associate at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés and a participant in the MRI co-led Mentoring and Training Program in IPCC Processes for Early Career Mountain Researchers, explores the impact of protected areas on high-elevation freshwater ecosystems, their biodiversity, and their ecosystem services in the tropical Andes.
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Im kommenden Bericht des Uno-Klimarats geht es um die Folgen des Klimawandels, aber auch um die Anpassung daran. Was das bedeutet und wem es helfen könnte, erläutert die in Bern tätige Umweltwissenschafterin Carolina Adler im Gespräch. / In this interview with the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, MRI Executive Director discusses the release of the Working Group II contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (in German).
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Call for participation! This Synthesis Workshop co-organised by the Philipps University of Marburg and the Mountain Research Initiative will take place from 17-23 July 2022. Application deadline is 15 March 2022.
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With new mountain events added regularly, don't forget to check out our online calendar.
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GEO Mountains News & Events
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Over the past few weeks, GEO Mountains has hosted the inaugural meetings of each of its 11 Task Groups. Collectively, the Task Groups span the full breadth of the GEO Mountains Implementation Plan – from helping contribute to our inventories and supporting nascent systematic mountain monitoring initiatives to developing training and capacity development resources (including “knowledge packages”) that seek to deliver the latest science into policy circles effectively.
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Join us! Our special session at the Southern African Mountain Conference 2022 seeks to develop an improved broad and interdisciplinary understanding of the current 'data situation' in relation to monitoring climate change and its impacts across African mountains. This hybrid session is available both to conference participants and virtual attendees.
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Conéctate A+ News & Events
Cluster of Cooperation in the Tropical Andes and Central America Region
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The Caribbean Climate and Health Responders Course is a 10-week free online certificate course committed to providing health care professionals with the knowledge and tools to effectively respond to the climate and health crisis in their local communities throughout the Caribbean region. This course will take place 6 April to 4 June 2022.
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The Climate and Health Responder Course for Latin America is a 5-week free online certificate course. The course aims to engage the public health research and academic communities to facilitate climate and health research used to inform health and policy decisions. This course will take place 19 April to 19 May 2022.
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Melting and sublimation on Mount Everest's highest glacier due to human-induced climate change have reached the point that several decades of accumulation are being lost annually now that ice has been exposed, according to a University of Maine-led international research team that analyzed data from the world's highest ice core and highest automatic weather stations.
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Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, the Caucasus Mountain Forum organising committee has decided to postpone this event to 2023. Details regarding new dates, and a number of smaller-scale workshops planned for 2022 in support of the goals of the UN International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development, will be shared via the Caucasus Mountain Forum website and associated social media platforms..
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Satellite images could offer a new way to monitor for avalanche threats to remote mountain communities, according to University of Aberdeen scientists studying two avalanche events that happened in the same Himalayan valley in 2016 and 2021. The most severe of these, in India’s Chamoli district, caused a flash flood that killed more than 200 people and destroyed key infrastructure.
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This paper presents a synthesis of the outcomes of sessions and recommendations for future research in mountain areas from the International Mountain Conference (IMC), held in Innsbruck, Austria, in September 2019.
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This issue of the Journal of Mountain Science explores topics such as identifying the priority areas for enhancing the ecosystem services in hilly and mountainous areas of southern China, and looking at seismotectonics and the consequences of the large earthquakes that took place in the 1930s in eastern Mazandaran, north of Iran.
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In this focus issue, studies from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Portugal, Morocco, Argentina, Ecuador, and across the Andes investigate factors affecting pastoral social-ecological systems in mountains, and how societies respond to environmental, socioeconomic, and political changes.
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This list, updated each week, contains articles relevant to mountain research that you won't want to miss this month.
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This blog post written by Jonas Lembrechts, postdoctoral researcher at the Centre of Excellence on Plants and Ecosystems at the University of Antwerp, presents a standardized protocol developed by the Mountain Invasion Research Network (MIREN). The protocol was designed to systematically quantify global patterns of native and non-native species distributions along elevation gradients and shifts in these distributions arising from interactive effects of climate change and human disturbance.
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Have an idea for a blog post or mountain news to share?
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Check out the MRI website for a full list of open calls and publication opportunities.
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Current patterns of global development based on people’s continuous extraction and exploitation of natural resources are not sustainable, and a societal transition to systems of sustainable consumption and production (SSCP) is urgently needed. In an attempt to promote co-development research through science and stakeholder-based approaches to attain SSCP, Belmont Forum (BF) is currently preparing a call for research proposals through the BF Collaborative Research Action (CRA) proposal mechanism.
The call will open soon.
The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) are intensifying their collaboration. As part of this, they have launched a special call for scientific exchanges between Switzerland & the UK, enabling research visits of up to 12 months in priority areas.
Deadline 8 March 2022.
The Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS) Award 2021 aims to reward and recognize the best PhD thesis in the field of International Studies received from a Swiss University. SNIS hopes to encourage and support young researchers to advance their careers while simultaneously promoting the interdisciplinary and ever-changing field of International Studies. The award amounts to CHF 10,000.
Deadline 15 March 2022.
The Synthesis Centre for Biodiversity Sciences (sDiv) has issued a call for projects starting in 2023. Financing after September 2024 is subject to approval of iDiv funding beyond DFG funding.
Deadline for pre-proposal submissions 22 March 2022.
This request for proposals invites concept papers to explore innovative approaches and thinking to help relevant organizations speed their transition to climate-resilient, sustainable economic growth through improved policy and practice. The anticipated outcome of the grant activities is to stimulate the innovative use of geospatial tools and information to translate science into decision support systems and practice that addresses the development challenges posed by climate stresses and their impact in the HKH region.
Deadline 25 March 2022
Afin de soutenir la relève et les collaborations avec la société, la ROREP lance un prix de CHF 5'000 vi-sant à soutenir des projets transdisciplinaires (science-société) engageant des jeunes chercheur-euse-s dans le domaine du développement territorial, régional et urbain.
Date limite de dépôt des candidatures 31 mars 2022
The International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) continues its Grants Program for 2020-2023, which will complement the Union program of funding symposia and workshops organised or co-sponsored by Union Associations and Union Commissions.
Deadline for project proposal submission is 1 April 2022.
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For a full list of open funding opportunities, please see our website.
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Professorship of Forest Ecology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
In this postdoc position, you will assess whether and to what extent different forest management practices have an impact on sediment production and transfer in three Alpine case study regions, based on a combination of field data and numerical simulation experiments, calibrated with tracer data from the geomorphological part of the project.
Screening of applications will start on 14 March 2022, with a desired start date of 1 June 2022.
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A regularly updated compilation of mountain job opportunities can be found on our website.
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