https://phys.org/news/2025-11-scientists-mountain-climate-faster-billions.html
Mountains worldwide are experiencing climate change more intensely than lowland areas, with potentially devastating consequences for billions of people who live in and/or depend on these regions, according to a major global review.
The international study, published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, examines what scientists call "elevation-dependent climate change" (EDCC)—the phenomenon where environmental changes can accelerate at higher altitudes.
It represents the most thorough analysis to date of how temperature, rainfall, and snowfall patterns are shifting across the world's mountain ranges.
Led by Associate Professor Dr. Nick Pepin from the University of Portsmouth, the research team analyzed data from multiple sources including global gridded datasets, alongside detailed case studies from specific mountain ranges including the Rocky Mountains, the Alps, the Andes, and the Tibetan Plateau.
The findings reveal alarming trends between 1980 and 2020:
- Temperature: Mountain regions, on average, are warming 0.21°C per century faster than surrounding lowlands
- Precipitation and snow: Mountains are experiencing more unpredictable rainfall and a significant change from snow to rain
"Mountains share many characteristics with Arctic regions and are experiencing similarly rapid changes," said Dr. Pepin from the University of Portsmouth's Institute of the Earth and Environment.
"This is because both environments are losing snow and ice rapidly and are seeing profound changes in ecosystems. What's less well known is that as you go higher into the mountains, the rate of climate change can become even more intense."
The implications extend far beyond mountain communities. Over one billion people worldwide depend on mountain snow and glaciers for water, including in China and India—the world's two largest countries by population—who receive water from the Himalayas.
Dr. Pepin added, "The Himalayan ice is decreasing more rapidly than we thought. When you transition from snowfall to rain because it has become warmer, you're more likely to get devastating floods. Hazardous events also become more extreme."
"As temperatures rise, trees and animals are moving higher up the mountains, chasing cooler conditions. But eventually, in some cases, they'll run out of mountain and be pushed off the top. With nowhere left to go, species may be lost and ecosystems fundamentally changed."
Recent events highlight the urgency. Dr. Pepin points to this summer in Pakistan, which experienced some of its deadliest monsoon weather in years, with cloudbursts and extreme mountain rainfall killing over 1,000 people.
This latest review builds on the research team's 2015 paper in Nature Climate Change, which was the first to provide comprehensive evidence that mountain regions were warming more rapidly higher up in comparison to lower down. That study identified key drivers including the loss of snow and ice, increased atmospheric moisture, and aerosol pollutants.
Ten years on, scientists have made progress understanding the controls of such change and the consequences, but the fundamental problem remains.
"The issue of climate change has not gone away," explained Dr. Pepin. "We can't just tackle mountain climate change independently of the broader issue of climate change."
A major obstacle remains the scarcity of weather observations in the mountains. "Mountains are harsh environments, remote, and hard to get to," said Dr. Nadine Salzmann from the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF in Davos, Switzerland. "Therefore, maintaining weather and climate stations in these environments remains challenging."
This data gap means scientists may be underestimating how quickly temperatures are changing and how fast snow will disappear. The review also calls for better computer models with higher spatial resolution—typically most current models can only track changes every few kilometers, but conditions can vary dramatically between slopes just meters apart.
Dr. Emily Potter from the University of Sheffield added, "The good news is that computer models are improving. But better technology alone isn't enough—we need urgent action on climate commitments and significantly improved monitoring infrastructure in these vulnerable mountain regions."
More information: Elevation-dependent climate change in mountain environments, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s43017-025-00740-4
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 03, @02:38AM (1 child)
Billionaires everywhere are planning their Mt Everest summit--now that the trek is warmer and less icy.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 03, @03:52PM
Global warming may be expanding the atmosphere a bit, but I doubt it has expanded it enough to make the oxygen at the summit of Everest dense enough for their fat asses to survive without supplemental O2 hauled up by Sherpas.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by gonemissing on Wednesday December 03, @07:51AM (5 children)
I just heard an interesting comment on the wireless from a rural politician regarding climate change.
He was being asked about the impact of climate change on his electorate and he was talking about the increased temperatures and severity of storms that are occurring. The interesting thing was that there are many climate-change deniers in his electorate who continue to claim that the weather changes are just part of the normal cycles, but at the same time they're the first in line to try to claim drought or flood relief.
He doesn't think they understand how they are undermining their own claims. Either it's normal weather patterns in which case as a farmer you should be prepared for, or it's abnormal where you may have a case for government handouts.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday December 03, @03:50PM
Somebody in this loop needs to run the actuarial (or whatever they're called) tables and balance the insurance premiums (aka tax revenue) vs the projected payouts. Government handouts are just another form of insurance, and people eventually need to decide if they're willing to pay the taxes to cover them, or not. Even if you choose to not tax but still spend anyway, that becomes a tax via devaluation of the currency (inflation.)
Of course, having personally dealt with the kinds of voters he's dealing with, the denial is so strong with them - you have to tell them something they want to hear, and usually that involves them not giving you something while they (personally) continue to get everything they ever thought they were entitled to and then some.
🌻🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Deep Blue on Wednesday December 03, @09:36PM (3 children)
There are such things as 20 year, 50 year and 100 year cycles and anything in between and shorter and longer, so just cause something hits rarely, does not mean it's not "abnormal". And there are thousands of different macro events, man made and otherwise natural, that you can't really chuck it all to "that's climate change, see".
(Score: 2, Insightful) by gonemissing on Wednesday December 03, @10:46PM (1 child)
I didn't explain it as well as he did, so I'll make another attempt.
It's the irony that these farmers are claiming that it's just natural cycles while demanding handouts. Farms should be able to cope with "natural cycles", it's part of being a farmer. You put away for the bad years.
Note that not many farmers are like this, just seems to correlate with the outspoken ones.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 03, @11:00PM
Can you clarify -- are we talking about traditional, multi-generational family farmers...or agribusiness?
(Score: 2) by VLM on Thursday December 04, @04:27PM
Sure you can. The goal isn't to make things better or improve quality of life, but to use the "worst day of the year" to scare people, act as apocalypse fanfic for atheists, then use those fears to ram in totally unrelated and ineffective "solutions" that mostly involve financial bribe payoffs, punishment of the wrong people, fire and brimstone speeches for atheists, power grabs over formerly free or free-er areas, the usual "villains being villains" stuff.
Unsurprisingly a large fraction of the population sees thru it and are "deniers". Global warming is just the link related below for atheists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events#19th_century [wikipedia.org]
It's not supposed to be true. It's supposed to be authoritarian and punishing and ... well ... plain old evil, I guess.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday December 03, @01:17PM
0.21C per century sounds trivial.
What's not trivial is the changes in the Rhône Glacier and surrounding regions between 1989 and today - just 36 years, but so much more significant than 0.075C average temperature increase.
https://www.capradio.org/news/npr/story?storyid=nx-s1-5535161 [capradio.org]
🌻🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Friday December 05, @09:05PM
"... faster than predicted"
It seems we have been hearing that a lot over the years in regards to climate change and it's effects.
Probably just me.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."