Climate report: climate change in the Mont-Blanc Massif and its impacts on human activity

Since the end of the 1980s, average annual temperatures in the Espace Mont-Blanc (EMB) have risen between 0.2 and 0.5°C per decade. The rise in temperatures has primarily taken place in spring and summer. No significant trend has been observed in total annual precipitation. Extremely hot days became significantly more frequent. This report assesses varies aspects of climate change on the EMB, including:

1. Expected change;
2. impacts on natural envrionments;
3. water;
4. agriculture;
5. forests and biodiversity;
6. tourism; and
7. natural hazards.

The findings presented in this report call for adaptation policies that are themselves adaptive and consistently updated to mirror the pace of change, which is already fast and accelerating. The report identifies important challenges in the face of rising temperatures, increasingly extreme weather events, which will require major socio-economic and cultural changes. A number of strategic opportunities are also becoming apparent for the EMB, a territory which will undoubtedly become a place of refuge for animals, plants and humans seeking cooler temperatures.