Prelude: Mountains in an Uncertain World* - Impact of Global Changes on Mountains: Responses and Adaptation - page 8

on Environment and Development (UNCED), more popularly known as
the Earth Summit, that convened in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Together with
the ardent support of Jean-François Giovannini and the Swiss Development
Cooperation, the efforts of the now rapidly growing group of concerned
scholars and institutions successfully stage-managed the insertion of the
'mountain chapter' into AGENDA 21 of the Rio Earth Summit.
Following Rio, mountain well-being moved from the back stage of
world political and environmental attention to front and centre. This
climaxed at the United Nations headquarters in New York on December
11, 2001 when the International Year of Mountains (2002) was launched.
Under the adept leadership of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization
(FAO), the designated 'lead agency' for the mountain chapter, mountain
environmental and development problems began to receive widespread
attention. Many NGOs were set up, with Bern University becoming a major
focal point, and now December 11 is celebrated each year as the Day of the
Mountains .
Although progress has slowed down in many regions, the 20th
anniversary of the Rio Summit in 2012 offered an opportune juncture to
regenerate momentum. Regrettably, the opportunity was squandered. The
now greatly enlarged scope of mountain activism, including increasing
numbers of indigenous mountain people and organizations, aided by the
recent digital revolution, must renew their determination. Similarly, the
world mountaineering community must come together as advocates and
ambassadors for the mountains we all love—the mountains we all need
(Ives 2013).
The reality of climate change is now undeniable—Earth is warming and
the leading indicators have been decisively manifested in the mountains
and polar regions. However, the urge to exaggerate and over-dramatize,
to cry death and destruction, remains a serious problem that hampers
effective progress and understanding. The Himalaya, once again, feature
prominently in the news media, specifi cally regarding the contention that
large numbers of melt-water lakes are forming on the surfaces and in front
of retreating Himalayan glaciers and will inevitably burst, bringing death
and destruction to hundreds of millions downstream. To this has been added
the threat of the Ganges, and other major rivers of the region, withering to
mere seasonal streams once the glaciers have all melted. Lack of good data
is one of the primary constraints to proper evaluation, thus allowing these
reckless forecasts to proliferate unchecked.
Mountains are among the least known and least understood areas of
the world. Unreasonable and unsupportable statements propagated by the
world-wide news media are dangerous, even immoral, yet complacency
about the shared dangers and threats and the very real pressures that our
mountain world faces must be avoided.