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Adaptation At Altitude, an MRI flagship activity, officially launched Mountains Connect, a new online source of information about transboundary mountain governance. The project promotes interregional knowledge exchange and experiences for collective action in mountain regions.

Anthropogenic climate change has important consequences for the health of the planet’s ecosystems and for human beings. Understanding the interconnection between the two processes of change is relevant not only to be able to propose comprehensive responses, but above all to understand the systemic and interdependent functioning of socio-ecosystems. Conéctate A+, conducted a literature review to better understand how the links between climate change, biodiversity, and health have been studied in the Tropical Andes region and Central America.

In 2019, alpinism was recognised by UNESCO as an intangible heritage of humanity and “shared culture made up of knowledge of the high-mountain environment, the history of the practice and associated values, and specific skills”. However, alpinism is inextricably linked to mountains – places of extraordinary interest that need to be defended even more. The Alpine landscape protection initiatives address issues of territorial planning, sustainable development, tourism, agriculture, and energy, but it is also essential to consider these topics through the lens of mountains’ historical and cultural values.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that total Arctic summer sea ice loss is now inevitable, likely before 2050.

In this issue, four studies from Italy, France, and Cyprus examine how the production of Mediterranean mountain food specialties—cheese, beef, and wine—can support sustainable development in the producing regions.

A new paper rethinks mountain water security, calling for a better understanding of the complex interaction between glacial meltwater and coupled human-natural systems. 

New UNESCO data highlight the accelerated melting of glaciers in World Heritage sites, with glaciers in a third of sites set to disappear by 2050. But it is still possible to save the other two-thirds, if the rise in global temperatures does not exceed 1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial period. This will be a major challenge for COP27.

Volume 19, issue 10 of the Journal of Mountain Science explores topics ranging from the effect of elevation on floristic diversity, life forms, and chorotypes in the Al-Hada mountain escarpment in Saudi Arabia to the state of mountain research in Canada.

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