A Workshop on Advances in Our Understanding of Elevation Dependent Climate Change

The workshop was designed to discuss the recent evidence and open questions on how climate change is variously affecting mountain environments and high-elevation areas. In particular, the focus was on elevational gradients of change in key meteorological and climate variables (beyond temperature) and on understanding the underlying physical processes, besides discussing their broader consequences both at high altitudes and downstream. The meeting was stimulated by developments of seminal ideas that originated in a previous international workshop on Elevation Dependent Warming (EDW) held in Payerbach, Austria, in April 2014, whose outcome had been summarized in the review paper by the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI 2015). This second workshop, aimed at reflecting further on the changing status of our knowledge since the earlier workshop, expanded the discussion to consider a more holistic appreciation of climate change as manifest in high mountains, particularly taking into account more variables related to the mountain atmosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, and hydrological cycle. In fact, multivariate patterns and processes along the elevational gradients were considered, broadening the key concept of elevation-dependent warming (EDW) to a more inclusive elevation-dependent climate change (EDCC) that is not necessarily closely linked to EDW. In addition, regional similarities between mountain ranges and teleconnections with the broader climate system were considered. Finally, key gaps in our observations and models were documented, and future research priorities in mountain science were identified. The workshop was arranged aside from the Second International Mountain Conference (IMC) held in Innsbruck, Austria, on 11-15 September 2022. Participants were hosted at the premises of the University of Innsbruck. Online attendance was allowed to remotely connect participants on two out of the three days of the workshop. Both of the workshops were supported by the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI), an international organization serving as a coordination network for research collaboration, bringing the global mountain research community together. In particular, the workshop outcomes are part of the activities of the MRI and CNR (Italian National Research Council) co-led GEO-Mountains Initiative (www.geomountains.org).