The Alps: Europe’s cherished but endangered mountains

News Published 09 Sep 2009 Last modified 17 Jul 2017
As the ‘water towers of Europe’, the Alps play a crucial role in sustaining the social and economic wellbeing of millions of people living in vast lowland areas. A complex and vulnerable ecosystem, they represent Europe’s central landmark.

Troublingly, a report released today by the European Environment Agency concludes that global climate change poses a grave threat to the alpine hydrological system, altering precipitation, snow-cover patterns and glaciers, with further effects downstream. Hosting most of the headwaters of the rivers Danube, Rhine, Po and Rhone, the Alps are also exposed to increasing demand for water to satisfy the needs of agriculture and the tourism sector.

The EEA report calls on public and private actors at the regional and local levels to better coordinate water and land use and to share water resources more efficiently across sectors. Success factors for implementing adaptation include technological measures (such as improved irrigation techniques or wastewater and greywater re-use), initiatives to manage water demand (such as awareness raising and reducing water use by households) and ensuring full participation and empowerment of regional and local actors.

To supplement the broad projections of more frequent droughts in summer, floods and landslides in winter and higher inter-annual variability of precipitation, the report presents six case studies that illustrate experiences of regional adaptation to key water resource issues related to climate change in Austria, France, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland. Together, they provide valuable insights into the forces that promote or obstruct adaptation and the types of measures that have proven successful.

The Alps and the report’s case studies  

The Alps and the report’s case studies map


 

Download the full report here:

 

More information:

 

 

Related content

Related publications

Regional climate change and adaptation — The Alps facing the challenge of changing water resources Regional climate change and adaptation — The Alps facing the challenge of changing water resources Drawing on the most recent knowledge of climate change impacts in the Alps and experiences across the region, this report analyses the risks that climate change presents to the region's water supply and quality, identifying needs, constraints, opportunities, policy levers and options for adaptation. It extracts policy guidance on adaptation practice and aims to assist regional and local stakeholders in developing robust adaptation strategies. The focus of the report is on water resources and related adaptation, rather than water-related extreme events like floods, avalanches, landslides or mudflows, which are already well covered by existing studies of climate change impacts in the Alps.
Impacts of Europe's changing climate - 2008 indicator-based assessment Impacts of Europe's changing climate - 2008 indicator-based assessment This report is an update and extension of the 2004 EEA Report Impacts of Europe's changing climate. The main part of this report summarises the relevance, past trends and future projections for about 40 indicators (from 22 in the 2004 report). The report also addresses adaptation and the economics of climate change impacts and adaptation strategies and policies, and data availability and uncertainty.

See also

Permalinks

Geographic coverage

Temporal coverage

Document Actions

For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/the-alps-europe2019s-cherished-but-endangered-mountains or scan the QR code.

PDF generated on 24 Jul 2017, 11:14 AM

Subscriptions
Sign up to receive our reports (print and/or electronic) and quarterly e-newsletter.
Follow us
 
 
 
 
 
Archive

Featured article

Circular economy in Europe: we all have a role to play

Circular economy in Europe: we all have a role to play

To most people the idea of a circular economy remains an abstract if not far-off concept. While ‘going green’ is a growing popular theme around the world, many people are not yet aware of the greater ...

Read more

European Environment Agency (EEA)
Kongens Nytorv 6
1050 Copenhagen K
Denmark
Phone: +45 3336 7100
The European Environment Agency (EEA) is an agency of the European Union.
Legal notice EU flag
 

engineered by
EEA Web Team

Creative Commons Attribution License CMS login Software updates history Code for developers Refresh this page