Geographical Society of Bonn

Invitation to the lectures in the summer semester 2024 "Climate change in the high mountains"

The lectures of the series will take place in presence in the Alfred Philippson Lecture Hall of the Department of Geography University of Bonn.

For members of the Geographical Society of Bonn, we also offer digital participation via Zoom this semester. For this we ask for a short message by email, upon which we will send the access data.

The lectures begin at 5:15 p.m.

4/24/2024, 5:15 p.m.

Alpine natural hazards in climate change: trigger mechanisms, models and possibilities of prediction

Prof. Dr. Michael Krautblatter (Technical University of Munich)

Natural hazards already play a significant role for economy and safety in the Alpine region today. Various processes that lead to alpine natural hazards have increased significantly in intensity and frequency in recent decades, particularly due to more frequent heavy precipitation events and changes in high alpine geosystems caused by glacier and permafrost changes. In this lecture, we will examine the changes in glacier and permafrost systems, e.g. using the Zugspitze and Ötztal as examples, and the changes in rockfalls, debris flows and rockslides. Using a four-thousand-year-old debris flow chronology at lake Plansee, we can show that the frequency of debris flows has greatly increased over the last hundred years. We are also trying to model future developments in rock stability with the help of temperature sensitive rock-ice mechanical models. In the AlpSenseRely project, we are developing forecasting techniques to better predict alpine natural hazards. One prominent object here is the Hochvogel, on which we are testing extensive measurement and transmission technology for the Alpine region.

6/19/2024 4:15 p.m.

Up or down? Migrating alpine plants meet unstable mountain slopes

Prof. Dr. Jana Eichel (Utrecht University)

While many mountain slopes are becoming increasingly unstable due to climate change, plant species must migrate upwards on them to survive rising temperatures. Can upward migrating plants stabilize mountain slopes and protect us from natural hazards in the future, or will rockfall, mudslides, avalanches and other processes impede upward migration and thus the diversity of plant species? This depends on the balance between the intensity of slope movements and the ability of plants to survive and stabilize them. Using case studies from the Alps and other high mountain regions, three possible "biogeomorphological" future scenarios for the joint development of slope instabilities and plant distribution and diversity are presented. In addition, the role of altitudinal gradients and high environmental heterogeneity for the variability of these scenarios in time and space is discussed.

7/3/2024 5:15 p.m.

From "residence of snow" to socio-hydrology: changes in the cryosphere and adaptation measures in the Himalayas

Prof. Dr. Marcus Nüsser (University of Heidelberg)

A decline in glaciers and other components of the cryosphere can be observed to varying degrees in all sections of the Himalaya and neighboring high mountain region. Especially in the arid high mountains of South Asia, the (seasonal) water availability is largely determined by meltwater runoff from the cryosphere. After a short to medium-term increase in runoff as a result of glacier retreat and the associated increase in meltwater, a peak (referred to as peak water) is reached before less meltwater becomes available in the long term, due to the decreasing size and volume of the glaciers. Adaptation measures will be necessary, particularly in the area of meltwater-dependent irrigation farming. In addition, over the last few decades, an increase in glacial lake outbursts and resulting destruction of settlements and infrastructure can be observed. This can be attributed to both climate change and the increasing development of endangered areas. Regions in the Himalayas thus appear to be both endangered and dangerous landscapes. In the lecture, these socio-hydrological relationships will be discussed based on regional case studies.