Extreme erosional events and natural hazards in Scandinavian mountains

The climate in northwestern Europe in the last 50 years appears to have undergone periods of marked extreme events such as windstorms, snowstorms and events of heavy rainfall, causing floods and erosion. In particular, the summers in the 1990s had Mediterranean-like fluctuations with warm spells, ra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ambio 1998-06, Vol.27 (4), p.292-299
Main Authors: Nyberg, R. (Hoegskolan i Karlstad (Sweden)), Rapp, A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Avalanches
CAMBIO CLIMATICO
CHANGEMENT CLIMATIQUE
Climate models
CLIMATIC CHANGE
EROSION
ESCANDINAVIA
FLOODING
Floods
HIGHLANDS
Ice
INONDATION
INUNDACION
Precipitation
Rain
Rain erosion
REGION D'ALTITUDE
SCANDINAVIA
SCANDINAVIE
Sloping terrain
Slush
Weather
ZONA DE MONTANA
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Summary:The climate in northwestern Europe in the last 50 years appears to have undergone periods of marked extreme events such as windstorms, snowstorms and events of heavy rainfall, causing floods and erosion. In particular, the summers in the 1990s had Mediterranean-like fluctuations with warm spells, rainstorms of "double" intensity, flooding, and landslides in the mountains. If and how these extremes are connected with global warming due to an increasing greenhouse effect is an open question. However, we feel justified, both for theoretical and practical reasons, in making the following recommendations for future research: Continued observation and information on extreme erosional events and natural hazards are important in order to clarify their climatic links and for safer environmental management for the benefit of people who work or are tourists in the mountains and downstream areas. It is also necessary to improve our knowledge of the connections between local weather extremes and regional climatic trends, e.g. through reconstruction of the former frequency of events during periods of rising temperatures. Two kinds of erosional processes and natural hazards, which may increase in frequency during a climatic warming, are discussed: i) snowmelt-triggered floods and slushflows in spring; and ii) rainstorm-triggered floods and debris flows in summer and autumn.
ISSN:0044-7447
1654-7209