International framework aims to protect and manage land recently exposed by glacial retreat
With global temperature riseGlaciers from the Andes, Europe Alpsthe Himalayas and other mountains are melting at an alarming rate rate. While local communities are coming up with innovative solutions to adapt to these changing ecosystems, international initiatives to support or expand these efforts are rare.
“We have a lot of data in the world on the retreat of glaciers, but we don’t have data on what we’re going to do when these glaciers disappear,” he said. Anais Zimmer, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Geography and Environment at the University of Texas at Austin, told GlacierHub.in the most recent Paper Published in the journal WIREs Climate Change late last year, Zimmer and a team of scientists aim to fill that gap.
Emerging preglacial ecosystems following the retreat of the Yanamare Glacier in Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Courtesy of Anaïs Zimmer, The University of Texas at Austin.
Currently, alpine glaciers are distributed in 44 countriesThis means that nearly a quarter of the world’s countries will have to manage around 227,000 square kilometres of bare land – an area the size of the UK – that would emerge under the highest emissions scenario by the end of the century. The paper notes that this will create a range of challenges for humans and ecological communities, including declining water quality and biodiversity, loss of cultural identity, and increased risk of natural disasters such as glaciers. lake outburst floodIn response, Zimmer and other researchers have proposed an international framework for fostering discussion and collaborative solutions that can be applied to all corners of the world facing similar challenges.
The tropical Andes are one of the regions in the world most affected by glacier retreat, heat up faster More than anywhere outside the Arctic Circle. As these glacial ecosystems warm rapidly, glacial retreat poses increasing risks to communities that depend on mountain ecosystems for water and agriculture. “Some of the key challenges include how to continue producing key agricultural products such as potatoes, quinoa and maca,” Daniel Ruiz CarrascalA research scientist at Columbia University’s International Institute for Climate and Society told GlacierHub. Ruiz Carrascal’s research focuses on changing climatic conditions in the tropical Andes. He is not the author of this paper. Warming temperatures are increasing the risk of pests and diseases, forcing communities to move up the valley for cooler temperatures and better water sources.
These risks in the Andes are compounded by other significant issues, such as Acid rock drainage. One of the largest metal-rich sulfide deposits in the world exists in Cordillera Blanca, a mountain range in Peru. The retreating glacier exposed the rock to air and water, which acidified the water and polluted the waterways used by communities living downstream for consumption and agriculture. In some cases, Zimmer has seen water so acidic that it can burn crops.
An orange puddle consisting of sulfide-contaminated water, a natural form of water pollution, in the forefield of the Uruashraju glacier in Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Courtesy of Anaïs Zimmer, The University of Texas at Austin.
The best way to adapt to these changes requires a “re-evaluation of traditional management practices” in the Andes, Ruiz Carrascal explained. This includes promoting a variety of planting and harvesting options currently being implemented by local farmers, such as changing planting times or the altitude of specific crops to find the right climate. “Local communities are aware of the negative impact of losing climatically suitable zones for certain products, such as potatoes, and the benefits and opportunities of increased distribution and altitude range for other products such as coffee,” he added. “But they lack financial opportunities. and new technologies, without the proper infrastructure to serve them, and living in high levels of poverty.”
during her research Mountain Institute, Zimmer notes how these issues and local adaptations are missing from the global conversation about adaptation to preglacial landscapes. This absence has inspired a framework urging scientists, local communities and policymakers to support and fund these local adaptations, called the “Call to Action for Alpine Landscapes and Livelihoods” or HiCALL.
Think of HiCALL as a spider web, Timothy BeachCo-authors of the paper, told GlacierHub. As local solutions to glacial retreat are developed in different corners of the world, collaboration between local communities, indigenous peoples, national organizations, international players and the private sector can work together to create a network to best serve the post-glacial lands of these lands. Sustainable management provides information retreats, he explained.
“People are tired of the drum beat: ‘Global warming is happening, glaciers are retreating,'” said Beach, a professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at the University of Texas at Austin. “Instead, they want to hear what you’re going to do.”
Lack of legal framework to manage emerging glacial landscapes. This disparity leaves rural communities living nearby vulnerable to hydropower and extractive industry developments such as gold mining. The HiCALL framework aims to shift the balance from economic industries to local communities, requiring bottom-up interactions between scientists, stakeholders, local and indigenous peoples, and policymakers. “The idea [of HiCALL] It’s about empowering these places, combining local land management with international initiatives,” Zimmer added, stressing the importance of funding and upgrading local adaptations to transform mountain ecosystems.
“Mountain environments are better managed by local communities that are culturally diverse, socially organized, and have permanently redefined their agricultural practices over the centuries,” adds Ruiz Carrascal.
The emerging glacier landscape of Tours Glacier on Mont Blanc in the French Alps. Courtesy of Anaïs Zimmer, The University of Texas at Austin.
Beach hopes that HiCALL will open up new dialogues on the management of glacial lands that have been missed in international conventions (eg COP, UN Climate Change Conference). Next steps in the framework include conducting a global survey with experts to understand which countries face similar problems from retreating glaciers and how to scale up local adaptations. “[HiCALL] Bringing a rising tide of knowledge by showing another facet of what global warming is doing to the world and how we can overcome it,” he concluded. These remote mountain-based efforts allow us to creatively explore climate-affected regions around the world Governance of communities affected by change.
