The Alps are changing color. there is always less profit and more green. High temperatures in the spring and summer have caused the characteristic white mantle that shelters it in cold winters to lose volume over the past four decades. In its place, small and large green shoots continue their way, covering 77% of the area of the mountains above the forest edge. While the landscape change the region is experiencing is pleasing to the eye, the reality is that these rapid and profound changes will have consequences on biodiversity, terrestrial albedo and the availability of a resource as essential to life as water.
What is happening in the Alps is what scientists know as ‘greening’. In an other saying, The high mountain area now has the right conditions for many more plants to grow there than in the past.. This phenomenon, described by a Swiss research group, is related to rising temperatures and is already occurring in other parts of the world, such as the Arctic.
Climate change is the cause of this snow shift, as the researchers explain in a paper published in the journal ‘Science’. Using satellite images from forty years ago and today, scientists were able to confirm this change in landscape. “Climate change is visible even from space”says the scientists.
It is added that The region has reduced snow cover by almost 10%, which is related to a change in the way precipitation occurs in the mountains, now more rain than snow.. “Although the projections show that precipitation will increase in the Alps, mountain areas are warming so quickly that they are reducing the rate of precipitation that falls as snow,” they explain. In fact, it is already predicted that within 20 or 30 years the reduction in snow mass will reach at least 25%.
More herbs are not always beneficial
This is directly related to the increase in high mountain vegetation, because the growth of plants creates a vicious circle that does nothing to preserve the white layer that covers the mountain range.. And that means that the greener the land of this mountain range, the easier it will exchange heat with the atmosphere. A situation that eventually changes the snowfall pattern, causing the snow to melt faster and reduce coverage.
“Both the growth of plants and the loss of snow cover have consequences on the climate,” he adds. Scientists do not rule out that an increase in the green mantle – given the increase in crop production – may somewhat mitigate climate change, but on balance, its contribution to the fight against global warming is very likely to be minimal. And compared to other biomes, The vegetation that grows in the mountains does not function as large carbon sinks as it does in the more fertile forests.
Therefore, as the scientists point out, the harm to these ecosystems is likely to be much greater than the benefits. Climate change will cause the high mountain flora to experience radical changes in both its composition and function, which will affect the life forms that depend on it. “Can create large-scale structural changes in the European Alps”they are looking at in the article.
The change has already begun
Meanwhile, the loss of snow can have adverse effects on the Earth’s albedo (the amount of light reflected from a surface) and the economy, recreation and drinking water supply. First, the reduction of the white cover will cause a change in the Earth’s albedo, as mountains will no longer reflect some of the sun’s rays back into the atmosphere.
In its place, The Alps will become heat sinks, which will lead to an increase in temperatures in the region.. This problem could be exacerbated if the permafrost thaws, as it can release greenhouse gases and create landslides or large landslides in the mountains.
On the other hand, “glaciers and snow provide half of the world’s water supplies,” underscore the researchers, who insist that this increased loss of snow will accompany other problems, such as drought, that will exacerbate the problems of providing water to communities. your future.
Reference work: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn6697
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