![]() ![]() This paper presents a multilingual platform that combines spatial and multi-criteria decision-support tools to facilitate stakeholder collaboration in the analysis of water management adaptation options. The results show that impacts of CC cannot be generalised, even in a limited area same hazards due to changes in temperature and precipitation patterns can generate very different risk scores, because of local conditions related to exposure and vulnerability factors.Ĭlimate change may result in reduced water supply from the Alps – an important water resource for Europe. At the same time, climate change could have secondary negative effects in these areas, as it will increase the frequency and the magnitude of extreme events. The results show that high-altitude municipalities will face the stronger risks for winter touristic activities, due to reduced snow cover duration, but also opportunities to attract in summer tourists escaping from the hotter temperatures of the plain. This methodology has been tested on an Italian Alpine area, which consists of very different landscapes from plain to high mountains. This article presents a risk methodology to assess the spatial distribution of the main challenges and opportunities for winter and summer tourism due to climate change at the sub-regional level on a 2021-2050 scenario. Despite a growing number of studies, the impacts of climate change on the tourism sector remain uncertain, when the regional and local scale or seasonality are considered. At the same time, the amount of precipitation was the lowest recorded between 1992 to 2008.The Alps are an interesting case for studying the relationship between tourism and climate change. In the summer of 2003 alone, water runoff in the Alps was 50-per-cent lower than average. ![]() "By analyzing the simulation results, we estimated that the effect on runoff of a 3☌ increase in temperature – which is likely to occur by the end of the century – was equivalent to a 3-per-cent decrease in precipitation, meaning that a slight decrease in precipitation can have significant impacts on water resources," said Pappas. ![]() Similarly, the increase in evapotranspiration observed at altitudes above 1,300 metres resulted in a 32-per-cent decrease in water runoff to rivers compared to the average for other summer seasons. ![]() "The advanced numerical model we used enabled us to generate highly accurate and high-resolution spatial modelling of water flows over the entire Alpine region," Pappas said.įor example, the simulation results indicate that during the heat wave of 2003 in forested mountainous areas of between 1,300 and 3,000 metres above sea level, evapotranspiration rates were above average in large parts of the Alps. To do this, they took data from 1,212 meteorological stations in the Alps covering an area of 257,000 square kilometres and combined them with aquifer flows in downstream rivers recorded between 20. The researchers knew that evapotranspiration was more pronounced in specific locations in the Alps, but Fatichi's team was able to actually quantify the phenomenon for the entire Alpine region. This is because heat waves benefit vegetation at high altitudes: by evaporating more water than usual as vegetation grows, they reduce the flow of runoff water that usually percolates down to rivers.Īnd by capturing more water and moisture from the soil and air, the vegetation itself increases evapotranspiration, the amount of water transferred in gaseous form to the atmosphere through evaporation at ground level and through plant transpiration. Spanning an area of more than 260,000 square klometres, the Alps supply water to rivers that flow to some 170 million people in Europe.īut the water runoff the mountain range provides could be significantly reduced if the number and frequency of heat waves in Europe increase and if vegetation continues to use more water, the researchers showed. ![]()
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