Climate Change in Alps to Leave Europe High and Dry

Picturesque views of the snow-covered Alps may soon be relegated to picture books due to increasing climate change, a new European environmental report says. And it’s not just skiers and tourism officials who are getting nervous about the fate of the continent’s famous mountains.

Temperatures in the Alps are increasing at a rate more than twice the global average, according to a recent report by the European Environment Agency, “Regional climate change and adaptation: The Alps facing the challenge of changing water resources.”
change and adaptation: The Alps facing the challenge of changing water resources.” The change has serious ramifications not only for the alpine climate itself, but also for the broad swath of Europe that relies on the water these “cherished but endangered mountains” collect and deliver.

As the changing global climate affects precipitation and snow-cover patterns in the Alps, it also impacts the amount of water these “water towers of Europe” can provide to millions of people in lowland areas. The vulnerable region is home to most of the headwaters of major rivers, including the Danube, Rhine, Po, and Rhone, and its glaciers provide 40 percent of Europe’s fresh water.

The EEA predicts “more droughts in summer, floods and landslides in winter, and higher inter-annual variability” in water availability that will lead to more shortages for–and competition between–households, agriculture, tourism, and other industries and interests. The River Lavant valley in Austria, which has a low level of precipitation and a limited number of springs, has already been affected by water shortages during hot summers, the EEA writes. And even regions like the Valais in Switzerland, which has seen few water-related conflicts of interest to date, are expected to suffer from diminished glacial melt water. In addition, the report says, 60 percent of mountain plant species may face extinction by 2100.

Treehugger