The European Environment Agency (EEA) has released ‘Climate Change, Impacts and Vulnerability in Europe 2016’, a report assessing past and projected climate change and its impacts on communities and ecosystems in Europe, including in its mountain regions.
The Mountain Partnership Secretariat (MPS) has launched the ‘Mountain Education Database’ to help users find courses on mountains in their area of interest and compare these courses with others offered by different universities.
March 2017: The European Environment Agency (EEA) has released a report assessing past and projected climate change and its impacts on communities and ecosystems in Europe, including in its mountain regions. Also on mountains, the Mountain Partnership Secretariat (MPS) has launched the ‘Mountain Education Database’ to help users find degree programmes and courses on mountain issues.
The EEA report, titled ‘Climate Change, Impacts and Vulnerability in Europe 2016,’ finds that mountain regions are experiencing temperature rises larger than the European average, a decrease in glacier extent and volume, an upward shift of plants and animal species, a high risk of species extinctions, increased risks of forest pests and risks from landslides and rock falls, changes in hydropower potential, and a decrease in ski tourism. The report includes specific sections on the policy context in the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Carpathians, which describe relevant conventions and actions to support climate change adaptation and sustainable development in the regions.
The report is the fourth report in the series, which is published every four years. This edition focuses on the implementation and review of the 2013 European Union (EU) Adaptation Strategy and the development of adaptation strategies and plans. The report features information on changes in the climatic system, climate change impacts on environmental systems and on society, and multi-sectoral impacts and vulnerabilities, among other topics.
The ‘Mountain Education Database’ aims to help users find courses in their area of interest and compare these courses with others offered by different universities or in other fields. Upcoming courses in the database include a range of options, from mountain field studies in Yellowstone National Park (US) to courses on emissions trading for emerging economies and developing countries, and a course on forest governance, REDD+, payments for ecosystem services (PES) and Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT). Users can search by type of course, keyword, country and language. [MPS Press Release on Report] [EEA Report Website] [MPS Press Release on Education Database] [Mountain Education Database]