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Influence of Hydrometeorological Hazards on Regional Sustainable Development in Vulnerable Mountain Areas

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Hazards and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2021) | Viewed by 6329

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Environment and Climate: Impacts, Risks and Adaptation (EClim), Department of Geography,University of Zurich,Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
Climate Change Impacts and Risks in the Anthropocene (C-CIA), Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Geneva, 66 Boulevard Carl-Vogt, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Interests: climate change; hazards; risk; mountains; adaptation; floods; landslides; capacity building

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Guest Editor
Climate Change Impacts and Risks in the Anthropocene (C-CIA), Earth Science Department, University of Geneva, 66 Boulevard Carl-Vogt, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Interests: climate change; natural hazards; flood risk; disaster risk reduction; adaptation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Extremes of temperature and precipitation lead to a range of hydrometeorological hazards in steep mountain environments that can devastate vulnerable local communities. Direct impacts can extend hundreds of kilometers downstream, while the loss of ecosystem services, reduction in agricultural productivity, damage to energy production, decreasing tourism revenue, and disruption of vital transportation corridors can have far-reaching and long-term impacts on lives and livelihoods. However, robust and quantitative information on such impacts in mountain environments is typically lacking in the literature. Improving knowledge and understanding of the broader impacts that hydrometeorological hazards have on regional sustainable development is, therefore, the primary objective of this Special Issue.

We welcome a broad range of contributions from all mountain regions of the world, considering hydrometeorological hazards such as floods, landslides, avalanches, droughts, heatwaves, etc. Studies that address cascading or compound hazards would be particularly valuable. Case studies that explore impacts associated with past disasters, including paleo perspectives, and modeling approaches that assess potential impacts are strongly encouraged. Moving towards the solution space, we also welcome contributions that address policy implications and offer insights into risk reduction strategies.

Dr. Simon Allen
Dr. Juan Antonio Ballesteros-Canovas
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • hazards
  • mountains
  • impacts
  • disasters
  • sustainable development

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 4173 KiB  
Article
Impacts of Erratic Snowfall on Apple Orchards in Kashmir Valley, India
by Irfan Rashid, Ulfat Majeed, Sheikh Aneaus, Juan Antonio Ballesteros Cánovas, Markus Stoffel, Nadeem Ahmad Najar, Imtiyaz Ahmad Bhat and Sonam Lotus
Sustainability 2020, 12(21), 9206; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12219206 - 5 Nov 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5883
Abstract
Kashmir Valley has been witnessing erratic snowfall events in recent autumns which severely impacted apple orchards and harvests. Here, we combine remotely sensed data and field observations to map snowfall distribution and snow depths during the recent snowfall events in November 2018 and [...] Read more.
Kashmir Valley has been witnessing erratic snowfall events in recent autumns which severely impacted apple orchards and harvests. Here, we combine remotely sensed data and field observations to map snowfall distribution and snow depths during the recent snowfall events in November 2018 and November 2019. Besides, we used ERA-5 reanalysis climate datasets to investigate the causes of these erratic snowfall events, pointing to an early arrival of Western Disturbances (WD) to the area. Analysis of these untimely snowfall episodes indicates that snow depths varied from 5–122 cm and 31–152 cm during the 2018 and 2019 snowfall events, respectively. In turn, satellite data analysis reveals that the apple orchards cover roughly 9.8% (1329 km2) of the entire surface of Kashmir Valley, out of which 32.6% were mildly to severely damaged by snow. The areas in South Kashmir suffered the most from the untimely snowfall with an area affected estimated to ~264 km2, followed by North Kashmir (~151 km2) and Central Kashmir (18 km2). The snowfall caused substantial harvest losses in orchards ranging from 4–50% with an average of ~35%. The geopotential analysis from the ERA-5 dataset provides insights into the synoptic weather patterns leading to the snowfall events and point to a trough in the high-troposphere (200 mb), along with a col at lower levels (850 mb) over the Kashmir Valley from November 2–5, 2018. The lower levels (850 mb) experienced intense cyclonic circulation which favored advection of moisture from the Arabian Sea during the November 6–7, 2019, snowfall event. The large economic losses related to early arrival of WD led to a virtual grounding of the horticultural sector in 2018 and 2019. Therefore, more baseline research is critically needed along with a comprehensive evaluation of the suitability of horticulture as an economically viable sector that is being promoted over the Kashmir region, also under climate change. Full article
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