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Elevation-dependent warming in mountain regions of the world

Abstract

There is growing evidence that the rate of warming is amplified with elevation, such that high-mountain environments experience more rapid changes in temperature than environments at lower elevations. Elevation-dependent warming (EDW) can accelerate the rate of change in mountain ecosystems, cryospheric systems, hydrological regimes and biodiversity. Here we review important mechanisms that contribute towards EDW: snow albedo and surface-based feedbacks; water vapour changes and latent heat release; surface water vapour and radiative flux changes; surface heat loss and temperature change; and aerosols. All lead to enhanced warming with elevation (or at a critical elevation), and it is believed that combinations of these mechanisms may account for contrasting regional patterns of EDW. We discuss future needs to increase knowledge of mountain temperature trends and their controlling mechanisms through improved observations, satellite-based remote sensing and model simulations.

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Figure 1: Elevation-dependent warming over and around the Tibetan Plateau.
Figure 2: Schematic of the relative vertical profile in atmospheric warming expected to result from various mechanisms.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the Mountain Research Initiative for funding an international workshop in Payerbach Austria in April 2014 on elevation-dependent warming at which the idea for this paper was conceived and drafted.

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N.P., R.S.B., H.F., E.P., I.R., S.N.W. and J.R.M. wrote and edited substantial sections of the main text; N.P., S.N.W., E.P. and N.F. wrote substantial sections of the supplementary material; S.W. helped with referencing; X.D.L. provided Fig. 1; N.P. conceived and M.B. provided Fig. 2; and I.R. provided Table 1. Other group members provided further insight, comments and editorial suggestions.

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Correspondence to N. Pepin.

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Mountain Research Initiative EDW Working Group. Elevation-dependent warming in mountain regions of the world. Nature Clim Change 5, 424–430 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2563

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