According to a new study, mountains around the world are warming faster than surrounding lowlands. The increased heat at higher elevations is melting glaciers and reducing snowfall. This threatens a vital source of fresh water for more than a billion people.
Researchers from the University of Portsmouth in the UK analyzed data on shifting temperature, rainfall, and snowfall in mountain ranges across the globe from 1980 to 2020. They found that mountains are warming at a rate of .4 degrees Fahrenheit per century faster than lowlands. As alpine areas heat up, snowfall turns to rain, and rain becomes more erratic.
The rapid warming in mountain regions is similar to the changes in the Arctic, which is heating up four times faster than the rest of the world. In both cases, the loss of snow, which reflects sunlight, intensifies warming.
Warmer weather in alpine regions threatens the stores of fresh water held in glaciers and snowpack. This water flows downslope during the spring and summer as the ice melts. In particular, the Himalayas, which are a critical water source for India, China, and Southeast Asia, are losing ice faster than what was previously thought.
More intense mountain rainfall also raises the risk of flooding. This past summer, record rains in the Himalayas led to deadly floods across Pakistan, killing thousands of people and destroying as much as half of the summer harvest.
Mountain warming is affecting animals as well. As temperatures rise, trees and animals are moving higher up the mountains, seeking cooler conditions. Eventually, they will run out of mountain and have nowhere left to go. Alpine wildlife could be fundamentally changed.
