Environmental Change in Mountains and Uplands

by Martin Beniston

Overview

This book provides a detailed account of the fragile and marginal physical and socio-economic systems which make up the world's mountain regions. Discussing the direct and indirect impacts of human interference with ecosystems, it then turns to the social and economic consequences of such environmental change—both for the mountain environment itself and for the populations who depend on mountain resources for their economic sustenance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780340706367
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	03/27/2000
Series:	Key Issues in Environmental Change
Pages:	188
Product dimensions:	7.44(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Professor of Geography, University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

Table of Contents

Part 1 - Mountains and uplands an introduction
Mountain regions of the world
Importance of mountain regions to humankind
Current environmental and socio-economic information and statistics
Environmental stresses: the emergence of the human factor
Global environmental change: fundamental issues
Part 2 - Characterization of mountain environments
Climate
Hydrological systems
Cryosphere
Soils
Ecological systems and biodiversity
Human environments
Data for research on mountain environments
Part 3 - Past environmental change in mountains and uplands
Proxy data: reconstructing the past
Environmental change in the distant past
Mountain environments during the last major glaciation
Mountain environments during the Holocene
Climatic change in the 20th century
Part 4 - Modelling approaches to assess environmental change
The significance of modelling
Spatial and temporal scales
Global and regional climate models
Semi-empirical methods and statistical downscaling techniques
Ecosystem models
Integrated assessment models (IAM)
Limits and range of application of models
Part 5 - Natural forcings
The causal mechanisms of anthropogenic pressures on the environment
Environmental pollution
Land-use changes
Climatic change
Part 6 - Impact of environmental change on natural systems
Challenges for impacts assessments
Impacts on hydrology
Impact on mountain cryosphere
Extreme events and their impacts on geomophologic features

Editorial Reviews

Not only serves as a primary reference and standard concerning mountain research but also transmits the spirit of collective responsibility for a fragile part of our planet.
Bulletin of the World Meteorological Organization

Provides some valuable and generally accessible insight into issues related to environmental change in general and mountain environments in particular. it is therefore not only a useful book to complement undergraduate courses addressing environmental change and/or mountain environments, but is also of value to readers with a range of backgrounds who seek an introductory text to these themes, be they environmentalists, people involved in outdoor education or just mountain enthusiasts.
The Holocene

...a broad but interesting book. The author should be pleased to have produced one of few teaching-level texts that will inspire and support students of all abilities and provide the better students with an excellent entry point to the more advanced literature.
Progress in Physical Geography

From the Publisher