MRI News
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On 11 December 2019, the ‘network-of-networks’ in the Latin American region Conéctate-A+ - the Cluster of Cooperation (CLOC) in the Tropical Andes-Central America region (Andes+) - held its second meeting to put forward a roadmap for collaboration, as well as coordinate a plan to implement key activities and milestones to be reached in 2020, including a call for grant proposals in early February.
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In November 2019, MRI joined forces with Interdisciplinary Center for Mountain Research (CIRM) and Forum Landscape, Alps, Parks (FoLAP) to invite researchers to discuss transformative research and education on mountains at the 17th Swiss Geoscience Meeting. The symposium 20. 'Taking Stock of Transformative Research & Education on Mountains. What Future Avenues?' was convened by Iago Otero & Emmanuel Reynard (CIRM and Uni Lausanne), Carolina Adler (MRI) and Jörg Balsiger (MRI and FoLAP).
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MRI’s Science Leadership Council (SLC) is composed of renowned key contributors to research on mountain regions and whose collaboration and expertise are essential for shaping MRI’s strategy and driving forward its vision. With the guidance from and engagement with the MRI Chair Jörg Balsiger, MRI Co-PIs, and the Executive Director, the MRI SLC members for 2020-2021 have been selected and appointed.
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After almost 15 years as MRI Chair, Professor Rolf Weingartner is taking a step back to concentrate on other projects. Looking back at his time at the helm, Weingartner talks us through the evolution of the MRI over the years, its key achievements, and where he hopes the MRI will head in future.
What made you want to get involved with the MRI?
Since the start of my career, one of my focal points has been on Swiss hydrology – and as soon as you combine hydrology and Switzerland it is obvious that mountains become involved. They are the water towers of Switzerland, and indeed of Europe! And mountains and mountain hydrology have become increasingly important over the years because of climate change and its impact on the cryosphere; mountains are strongly affected, with their retreating glaciers, melting permafrost, changing snow cover, and so on. So this combination felt like a natural fit for the MRI.
Mountain Research and Development: Adaptation to Climate Change and Sustainable Mountain Development
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Guest-edited by MRI Executive Director Carolina Adler, this issue of the journal Mountain Research and Development contributes to the literature being assessed for the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report – and particularly its cross-chapter paper on mountains.
When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6, due in 2021) was being scoped, a number of stakeholders with a mountain focus from research, government, policy, and development communities highlighted the importance of mountains in global assessments such as those conducted by the IPCC. This ultimately led to the approval of a cross-chapter paper on mountains. The articles in this issue of Mountain Research and Development (MRD) contribute to the body of literature that is being assessed by the IPCC in AR6, integrating mountain contexts and issues into the climate change adaptation debate.
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This year, the famous AGU Fall Meeting returned to San Francisco for the AGU’s Centennial Celebrations, gathering nearly 30,000 geoscientists – among them a great number of mountain-oriented researchers. During the AGU week, the MRI organized scientific sessions and a side-event workshop that offered mountain researchers a chance to connect and engage in discussion on mountain climate research.
Mountain Weather and Climate in a Warmer World
The scientific sessions on ‘Mountain Weather and Climate in a Warmer World’ presented research seeking to better understand weather and climate processes and patterns of climate change in mountains, as well as their implications for high-elevations and regions downstream, using in situ observations, remote sensing, and modelling approaches.
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During the UN Climate Change Conference COP25, the MRI celebrated International Mountain Day 2019 on 11 December by raising a voice for mountains at this important event.
The UN Climate Change Conference COP 25 (2 – 13 December 2019) took place in Madrid, Spain under the Presidency of the Government of Chile and with logistical support from the Government of Spain. The conference was designed to take the next crucial steps in the UN climate change process. Following agreement on the implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement at COP 24 in Poland last year, a key objective of COP25 was to take steps towards the full operationalization of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
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The pace of contemporary rise in greenhouse gas concentrations is unprecedented in climate history over the past 66 million years and weather extremes are the 'new normal,' according to some of the latest findings in climate science compiled in an easy-to-read guide for negotiators, policymakers, and media for the COP25 summit in Madrid. MRI Executive Director Carolina Adler was among the publication's contributing authors.
10 New Insights in Climate Science was presented to UNFCCCs Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 25th Conference of the Parties (COP25) in Madrid, 6 December, 2019, and distributed to negotiators and journalists.
The report highlights the most recent advances over the last 12 months in the scientific understanding of the drivers, effects, and impacts of climate change, as well as societal responses. It is the third annual publication by Future Earth and The Earth League, two major international organizations representing networks of global sustainability scientists. It summarizes recent Earth-system science, policy, public health, and economic research.
