Since the beginning of industrialisation, atmospheric chemistry has strongly changed. Besides directly affecting plants and animals, the increase in green house gases like CO2, CH4 and N2O has resulted in an increase in temperature which in turn affects the precipitation regime.
A marked temperature increase will have and already has implications for soil development and cold adapted plants and animals in the alpine environment. In addition, characteristic elements of many alpine environments like glaciers and permafrost are melting at accelerating rates, leading to changes in the water regime and increased threats from mudslides and glacier lake outbreaks.
|