Mountain environments are seeing changes in flash flooding patterns, retreating mountain glaciers, and changes to seasonal runoff, among others.
United Nations News · The future of the planet ‘clearly in our hands’: top climate change scientist The earth’s glaciers, snow, permafrost and associated ecosystems , collectively known as the cryosphere, provide drinkable water for half of the world, but as the earth gets warmer, the supply is becoming unpredictable. The UN’s weather agency which is carefully monitoring the effects of climate change on water supplies, WMO, and partners, kicked off the High Mountain Summit in Geneva on Tuesday. Mountain environments are seeing changes in flash flooding patterns, retreating mountain glaciers, and changes to seasonal runoff, among others. As a result of these changes on the world’s peaks, freshwater supplies are being impacted, from mountainsides to urban economies, as recognized by the UN in a recent General Assembly Resolution on Sustainable Mountain Development . From the Yukon, to the Andes, the mountain cryosphere provides and regulates freshwater resources for around half o...