Books
Environmental Change in Mountains and Uplands (2000)
The Impacts of Climate Variability on Forests (1998)
Climatic Change at High Elevation Sites (1997)
From Turbulence to Climate:
Numerical Investigations of the Atmosphere with a Hierarchy of Models
Mountain Environments in Changing Climates (1994)
Interactions between Energy Transformations and Atmospheric Phenomena (1987)
Environmental Change in Mountains and Uplands (2000)
authored by M. Beniston (University of Fribourg, Switzerland)
"Not only serves as a primary reference and standard concerning mountain research but also transmits the spirit of collective responsibility for a fragile part of our planet." -- Bulletin of the World Meteorological Organization
"Provides some valuable and generally accessible insight into issues related to environmental change in general and mountain environments in particular. It is therefore not only a useful book to complement undergraduate courses addressing environmental change and/or mountain environments, but is also of value to readers with a range of backgrounds who seek an introductory text to these themes, be they environmentalists, people involved in outdoor education or just mountain enthusiasts." -- The Holocene
"...a broad but interesting book. The author should be pleased to have produced one of few teaching-level texts that will inspire and support students of all abilities and provide the better students with an excellent entry point to the more advanced literature." -- Progress in Physical Geography
Mountain environments are often perceived to be austere, isolated, and inhospitable. In fact, these areas are of immense value to mankind, providing direct life support to close to 10 percent of the world's population and sustaining a wide variety of species - many of which are endemic to this environment. 'Environmental Change in Mountains and Uplands' provides detailed account of the fragile and marginal physical and socio-economic systems which make up the world's mountain regions. Discussing the direct and indirect impacts of human interference on environmental ecosystems, it then turns to the social and economic consequences of such environmental change - both upon the mountain environment itself and upon the populations who depend on mountain resources for their economic sustenance. This book includes a review of possible implications for adaption and mitigation strategies in a global context. Working within a broad temporal scale, it draws upon paleoenvironmental records to document past changes which have occured in the absence of major anthropogenic influences, as well as utilising modelling as a means to assessing future environmental change.
Key Features: * International in scope with examples and case studies drawn from around the world * The most up-to-date textbook on mountain environments available - cites material as recent as 1999 * Adopts a temporal focus, considering lessons that may be learned from the past
Contents:
Part 1 - Mountains and uplands an introduction Mountain regions of the world Importance of mountain regions to humankind Current environmental and socio-economic information and statistics Environmental stresses: the emergence of the human factor Global environmental change: fundamental issues
Part 2 - Characterization of mountain environments Climate Hydrological systems Cryosphere Soils Ecological systems and biodiversity Human environments Data for research on mountain environments
Part 3 - Past environmental change in mountains and uplands Proxy data: reconstructing the past Environmental change in the distant past Mountain environments during the last major glaciation Mountain environments during the Holocene Climatic change in the 20th century
Part 4 - Modelling approaches to assess environmental change The significance of modelling Spatial and temporal scales Global and regional climate models Semi-empirical methods and statistical downscaling techniques Ecosystem models Integrated assessment models (IAM) Limits and range of application of models
Part 5 - Natural forcings The causal mechanisms of anthropogenic pressures on the environment Environmental pollution Land-use changes Climatic change
Part 6 - Impact of environmental change on natural systems Challenges for impacts assessments Impacts on hydrology Impact on mountain cryosphere Extreme events and their impacts on geomophologic features
172 pages
ISBN: 0340706384 (Hardback); 0340706368 (Paperback)
The Impacts of Climate Variability on Forests (1998)
edited by M. Beniston (University of Fribourg, Switzerland)
and J.L. Innes (Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Birmensdorf, Switzerland)
This volume contains a selection of scientific papers which were presented at an international workshop on the impacts of climatic variability held in Wengen, Switzerland, September 1997. For the first time, an assessment is made of the interactions between physical and biological elements of the Earth System on the basis of shifts in extreme climatic conditions, rather than simply changes in mean atmospheric conditions which research has tended to focus on until recently. Natural ecosystems and forests are typical examples of systems which, while constrained within certain ranges of mean climate, can undergo rapid and often irreversible damage in the face of short-lived but intense extreme events.
Keywords: Climate change, variability and extreme events, forests, forst damage, Modelling Fields: Meteorology/Climatology; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control; Agriculture and Forestry Written for: Scientists, students, forest managers, climatologists, environnmental groups Table of
Contents: The impact of climatic extremes on forests: an introduction. - Meteorological extremes and their impacts on forests in the Czech Republic.- Changes in temperature variability in relation to shifts in mean temperatures in the Swiss Alpine region this century.- Precipitation and snow cover variability in the French Alps.- Documenting the effects of recent climate change at treeline in the Canadian Rockies.- Managing Swiss forests: when climate intervenes.- Worldwide positions of alpine treelines and their causes.- Impacts of climatic variability and extreme on forests: synthesis......
Additional information can be found on Springer's Internet site. 1998 . XIV, 329 pp. 144 figs., 37 tabs. ISBN 3-540-64681-7 Softcover DM 169,- Available
Climatic Change at High Elevation Sites (1997)
edited by Henry F. Diaz1, Martin Beniston2 and Raymond S. Bradley3
1: NOAA/ERL/CDC, Boulder, CO, USA
2: University of Fribourg, Switzerland
3: University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA
Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht and Boston, 1997 298 pages / ISBN 0-7923-4678-5
Contents and Contributors
M. Beniston, H. F. Diaz, and R. S. Bradley Climatic Change at High Elevation Sites: An Overview H.F. Diaz and R.S. Bradley Temperature Variations During the Last Century at High Elevation Sites; M. Beniston Variations of Snow Depth and Duration in the Swiss Alps over the last 50 Years: Links to Changes in Large-Scale Climatic Forcings
J. Hurrell and H. van Loon Decadal Variations in Climate Associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation R. O. Weber, P. Talkner, I. Auer, R. Boehm, M. Gajic-Capka, K. Zaninovic, R. Brazdil, and P. Fasko 20th-Century Changes of Temperature in the Mountain Regions of Central Europe
Dessens and A. Bücher A Critical Examination of the Precipitation Records at the Pic du Midi Observatory, Pyrenees, France
B. Sevruk Regional Dependency of Precipitation-Altitude Relationship in the Swiss Alps
M. Rebetez, R. Lugon, and P. A. Baeriswyl Climatic Warming and Debris Flows in High Mountain Regions: The Case Study of the Ritigraben Torrent (Swiss Alps)
C. Ohlendorf, F. Niessen, and H. Weissert Glacial Varve Thickness and 127 Years of Instrumental Climate Data: A Comparison
M. Vuille and C. Ammann Regional Snowfall Patterns in the High, Arid Andes (South America) R. Villalba, J. J. Boninsegna, T. T. Veblen, A. Schmelter, and S. Rubulis Recent Trends in Tree-Ring Records from High Elevation Sites in the Andes of Northern Patagonia
B.H. Luckman, Developing a Proxy Climate Record for the Last 300 Years in the Canadian Rockies B.M. Buckley, E. R. Cook, M. J. Peterson, and M. Barbetti A Changing Temperature Response with Elevation for Lagarostrobos franklinii in Tasmania
L. Tessier, F. Guibal, and F. Schweingruber, Research Strategies in Dendroclimatology and Dendroclimatology in Mountain Environments
U. Schotterer, K. Froehlich, H. W. Gaeggeler, S. Sandjordj, and W. Stichler Isotope Records from Mongolian and Alpine Ice Cores as Climate Indicators
From Turbulence to Climate: Numerical Investigations of the Atmosphere with a Hierarchy of Models
Authored by Martin Beniston , University of Fribourg, Switzerland
This volume covers aspects of numerical modeling of the atmosphere and climate from the microscales of turbulence to the very large scales associated with climate and climatic change. Each of the three major spatio-temporal scales of the atmosphere, namely, the microscale, the mesoscale, and the macroscale is addressed through a hierarchy of models. Results of model simulations are illustrated throughout the text, with many of these examples based on the author's original research work. For each type of model discussed here, the theoretical background, including governing equation sets, simplifying assumptions, and advantages and limits of the models, is provided. An attempt is made throughout the book to highlight interdisciplinary nature of atmospheric modelling. Meteoroly, Climatology: For graduate students and scientists in meteorology and climatology
Table of Contents Fundamental Concepts Related to Atmospheric Modelling. - Investigations with the Deardorff-Sommeria ABL Model. - Investigations with the DREAMS Mesoscale Meteorological Model. - Simulations of Climate and Climate Change: A Hierarchy of Models. - Coupling the Mesoscale to the Microscale: Air Pollution Simulations. -Observational Evidence of Regional Climate Change. - Coupling the Macroscale to the Mesoscale: Regional Climate Simulations...
1997, 327 pp. 168 figs., 28 tabs., Hardcover ISBN 3-540-63495-9 DM 128,-
Mountain Environments in Changing Climates (1994)
Edited by Martin Beniston , University of Fribourg, Switzerland
"It is the stimulating discussion of issues, such as that makes this book highly readable. The standard of production is excellent, the maps and diagrams are clear and informative, and each chapter is well referenced. The book can be recommended not only to those interested in mountains but also to anyone concerned with environmental issues in general"-
Geoscientist Once regarded as hostile and economically non-viable regions, mountains have in the latter part of the century attracted major economic investments for tourism, hydro-power, and communication routes. This book presents important interdisciplinary work on the physical and human ecology of mountain environments. International experts address topics related to the impacts of climate change on mountain environments and socio-economic systems, and offer an understanding of the fundamental processes involved, their observation and their prediction.
Table of Contents
Part I: Climate Change in Mountain Regions: Fundamental Processes in Historical and Contemporary Observations, Modelling Techniques
Part II: Impacts of Climate Change on Vegetation: Observations, Modelling, Networks
Part III: Socio-economic Aspects of Climate Change in Mountain Regions
Part IV: Conclusions 27 chapters by authors from various parts of the world
496 pages, ISBN 0-415-10224-3
Interactions between Energy Transformations and Atmospheric Phenomena (1987)
Edited by Martin Beniston , University of Fribourg, Switzerland
and Roger A. Pielke, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, USA
Modeling and observational studies of regional atmospheric pollution linked to industrial and energy processes. Contributions from 30 authors from various countries Section I: Response of the atmosphere to waste-heat release Section II: Mesoscale processes: Numerical modeling, physical modeling, observations Section III: Atmospheric dispersion: Numerical modeling, physical modeling, observations Section IV: Microphysics and chemistry related to air pollution
440 pages, ISBN 90-277-2651-5