Open AccessUpslope migration of snow avalanches in a warming climate
Author(s) -
Florie Giacona,
Nicolas Eckert,
Christophe Corona,
Robin Mainieri,
Samuel Morin,
Markus Stoffel,
Brice Martin,
Mohamed Naaïm
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2107306118
Subject(s) - snow , terrain , climate change , context (archaeology) , environmental science , snowpack , proxy (statistics) , global warming , climatology , physical geography , geology , meteorology , geography , oceanography , cartography , machine learning , computer science , paleontology
Significance Snow avalanches represent a major threat in mountain environments, where they cause damage to critical infrastructure and claim hundreds of lives every year. Here, we document an unambiguous upslope migration of snow avalanches with climate change, a physical mechanism whose existence could previously not be demonstrated. In the Vosges Mountains, we show evidence that winter warming of +1.35 °C induced a sevenfold reduction in the number of avalanches, as well as a reduction of their magnitude and shortening of the avalanche season. These results show that low-to-medium elevation mountain ranges may serve as sentinels to anticipate future changes in snow processes and related risks in higher mountain environments and could thus help in the design of efficient adaptation strategies.