scholarly journals Climate change, gendered vulnerabilities and resilience in high mountain communities

2021 ◽  
pp. 106-124
Author(s):  
Deepak Dorje Tamang ◽  
Pranita Bhushan Udas
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Mountain Communities

scholarly journals From needs to actions: prospects for planned adaptations in high mountain communities

2020 ◽  
Vol 163 (2) ◽  
pp. 953-972
Author(s):  
Graham McDowell ◽  
Leila Harris ◽  
Michele Koppes ◽  
Martin F. Price ◽  
Kai M.A. Chan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Local Adaptation ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Mountain Areas ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Mountain Communities ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Support Mechanisms

AbstractAdaptation needs in high mountain communities are increasingly well documented, yet most efforts to address these needs continue to befall mountain people who have contributed little to the problem of climate change. This situation represents a contravention of accepted norms of climate justice and calls attention to the need for better understanding of prospects for externally resourced adaptation initiatives in high mountain areas. In response, this paper examines the architecture of formal adaptation support mechanisms organized through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and how such mechanisms might help to meet adaptation needs in high mountain communities. It outlines key global adaptation initiatives organized through the UNFCCC, clarifies idealized linkages between these global adaptation initiatives and meeting local adaptation needs, and evaluates actual progress in connecting such support with discrete adaptation needs in the upper Manaslu region of Nepal. The paper then critically examines observed shortcomings in matching adaptation support organized through the UNFCCC with local adaptation needs, including complications stemming from the bureaucratic nature of formal adaptation support mechanisms, the intervening role of the state in delivering aid, and the ways in which these complexities intersect with the specific socio-cultural contexts of mountain communities. It concludes by highlighting several prospects for increasing the quantity and quality of adaptation support to mountain communities. These opportunities are considered alongside several salient concerns about formal adaptation support mechanisms in an effort to provide a well-rounded assessment of the prospects for planned adaptations in high mountain communities.

scholarly journals Public Perceptions of Climate Change in the Peruvian Andes

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2677
Author(s):  
Adrian Brügger ◽  
Robert Tobias ◽  
Fredy S. Monge-Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Peruvian Andes ◽  
Food Shortages ◽  
Education Levels

How people subjectively perceive climate change strongly influences how they respond to its challenges. To date, relatively little is known about such perceptions in the Global South. This research examines public perceptions of climate change in the Peruvian Andes, a semi-arid high-mountain region that is highly exposed and vulnerable to adverse effects of climate change. Based on questionnaire data collected through face-to-face interviews (N = 1316), we found that respondents identify various climate-related issues as the most important challenges for their country. Many of these issues are related to water. Respondents also noticed more subtle changes and expected them to continue (e.g., extreme temperatures, food shortages). Climate impacts were clearly seen as negative, which was also reflected in the presence of emotions. When compared to previous research, more respondents had personally experienced extreme weather events (80%) and they were more certain that the climate is already changing, is caused by human activity, and is affecting distant and close places similarly. A comparison of the perceptions along different socioeconomic characteristics suggests that more vulnerable groups (e.g., rural, low income and education levels) tended to perceive climate change as more consequential, closer, and as a more natural (vs. anthropogenic) phenomenon than those from less vulnerable groups. The salience of water-related problems and personal experiences of climate-related events, as well as differences between various subgroups, could be used to improve measures to adapt to the consequences of climate change by correcting misconceptions of the population and of decisionmakers.

scholarly journals Responses of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities of Two Tropical, High-Mountain Lakes to Climate Change and Deacidification

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 243
Author(s):  
Javier Alcocer ◽  
Luis A. Oseguera ◽  
Diana Ibarra-Morales ◽  
Elva Escobar ◽  
Lucero García-Cid
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Water Temperature ◽  
Water Level ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Mountain Lakes ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Communities ◽  
High Mountain Lakes ◽  
La Luna

High-mountain lakes are among the most comparable ecosystems globally and recognized sentinels of global change. The present study pursued to identify how the benthic macroinvertebrates (BMI) communities of two tropical, high mountain lakes, El Sol and La Luna, Central Mexico, have been affected by global/regional environmental pressures. We compared the environmental characteristics and the BMI communities between 2000–2001 and 2017–2018. We identified three principal environmental changes (the air and water temperature increased, the lakes’ water level declined, and the pH augmented and became more variable), and four principal ecological changes in the BMI communities [a species richness reduction (7 to 4), a composition change, and a dominant species replacement all of them in Lake El Sol, a species richness increase (2 to 4) in Lake La Luna, and a drastic reduction in density (38% and 90%) and biomass (92%) in both lakes]. The air and water temperature increased 0.5 °C, and lakes water level declined 1.5 m, all suggesting an outcome of climate change. Contrarily to the expected acidification associated with acid precipitation, both lakes deacidified, and the annual pH fluctuation augmented. The causes of the deacidification and the deleterious impacts on the BMI communities remained to be identified.

scholarly journals Climate change drives mountain butterflies towards the summits

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Rödder ◽  
Thomas Schmitt ◽  
Patrick Gros ◽  
Werner Ulrich ◽  
Jan Christian Habel
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Life History ◽  
Climate Warming ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Range Shifts ◽  
Solar Irradiation ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Annual Range

AbstractClimate change impacts biodiversity and is driving range shifts of species and populations across the globe. To understand the effects of climate warming on biota, long-term observations of the occurrence of species and detailed knowledge on their ecology and life-history is crucial. Mountain species particularly suffer under climate warming and often respond to environmental changes by altitudinal range shifts. We assessed long-term distribution trends of mountain butterflies across the eastern Alps and calculated species’ specific annual range shifts based on field observations and species distribution models, counterbalancing the potential drawbacks of both approaches. We also compiled details on the ecology, behaviour and life-history, and the climate niche of each species assessed. We found that the highest altitudinal maxima were observed recently in the majority of cases, while the lowest altitudes of observations were recorded before 1980. Mobile and generalist species with a broad ecological amplitude tended to move uphill more than specialist and sedentary species. As main drivers we identified climatic conditions and topographic variables, such as insolation and solar irradiation. This study provides important evidence for responses of high mountain taxa to rapid climate change. Our study underlines the advantage of combining historical surveys and museum collection data with cutting-edge analyses.

scholarly journals Altitudinal Vascular Plant Richness and Climate Change in the Alpine Zone of the Lefka Ori, Crete

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
George Kazakis ◽  
Dany Ghosn ◽  
Ilektra Remoundou ◽  
Panagiotis Nyktas ◽  
Michael A. Talias ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Monitoring Network ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Species Loss ◽  
Total Species Richness

High mountain zones in the Mediterranean area are considered more vulnerable in comparison to lower altitudes zones. Lefka Ori massif, a global biodiversity hotspot on the island of Crete is part of the Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA) monitoring network. The paper examines species and vegetation changes with respect to climate and altitude over a seven-year period (2001–2008) at a range of spatial scales (10 m Summit Area Section-SAS, 5 m SAS, 1 m2) using the GLORIA protocol in a re-survey of four mountain summits (1664 m–2339 m). The absolute species loss between 2001–2008 was 4, among which were 2 endemics. At the scale of individual summits, the highest changes were recorded at the lower summits with absolute species loss 4 in both cases. Paired t-tests for the total species richness at 1 m2 between 2001–2008, showed no significant differences. No significant differences were found at the individual summit level neither at the 5 m SAS or the 10 m SAS. Time series analysis reveals that soil mean annual temperature is increasing at all summits. Linear regressions with the climatic variables show a positive effect on species richness at the 5 m and 10 m SAS as well as species changes at the 5 m SAS. In particular, June mean temperature has the highest predictive power for species changes at the 5 m SAS. Recorded changes in species richness point more towards fluctuations within a plant community’s normal range, although there seem to be more significant diversity changes in higher summits related to aspects. Our work provides additional evidence to assess the effects of climate change on plant diversity in Mediterranean mountains and particularly those of islands which remain understudied.

Women-Led Businesses: An Ethnographic Study of Gendered Entrepreneurship in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 398-414
Author(s):  
Humera Dinar
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Development Model ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Mountain Communities ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Neoliberal Development ◽  
Political Dimensions ◽  
Cultural Pressures ◽  
Gilgit Baltistan

As a result of the growing global economy and a development model with entrepreneurialism at its heart, women in remote and high-mountain societies in Gilgit-Baltistan, the northernmost part of Pakistan, have begun to venture outside the traditional and gendered economies by embarking on new forms of income-generating activities. This ethnographic study of women entrepreneurs in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, provides a critical analysis of the promotion of women’s entrepreneurship as a key strategy by development organizations to address gender inequities. The ethnographic accounts of women’s diverse experiences as entrepreneurs featured in this article demonstrate that the neoliberal development model and the global capitalist market serve as an opportunity for women in these high-mountain communities that allows them to push against socio-cultural pressures. Within these environments, women strive to become economic actors and make space for themselves in conventionally male-dominated economic trades such as business and entrepreneurship. In contrast to the NGOs’ narratives that glorify women as entrepreneurs in uncontentious ways, my ethnographic research views women as complex subjectivities whose lived experiences are embedded within socio-economic, religious and political dimensions of notions of legitimacy that dictate women’s participation in public spaces. The ethnographic accounts in this article illustrate how women navigate, negotiate, contest and reproduce the patriarchal sovereignties and development regimes.

Influence of climate change on soil erosion in high mountain area: a case study of upper Heihe river basin

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Wang ◽  
Fan Zhang ◽  
Guanxing Wang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Effect Of Temperature ◽  
Heihe River ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Mountain Area ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
High Mountain Area ◽  
The Impact

<p>The impact of climate change on soil erosion is pronounced in high mountain area. In this study, the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) model was improved for better calculation of soil erosion during snowmelt period by integrating a distributed hydrological model in upper Heihe river basin (UHRB). The results showed that the annual average soil erosion rate from 1982 to 2015 in the study area was 8.1 t ha<sup>-1 </sup>yr<sup>-1</sup>, belonging to the light grade. To evaluate the influence of climate change on soil erosion, detrended analysis of precipitation, temperature and NDVI was conducted. It was found that in detrended analysis of precipitation and temperature, the soil erosion of UHRB would decrease 26.5% and 3.0%, respectively. While in detrended analysis of NDVI, soil erosion would increase 9.9%. Compared with precipitation, the effect of temperature on total soil erosion was not significant, but the detrended analysis of temperature showed that the effect of temperature on soil erosion during snowmelt period can reach 70%. These finding were helpful for better understanding of the impact of climate change on soil erosion and provide a scientific basis for soil management in high mountain area under climate change in the future.</p>

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