Mountains are the water towers of the world, supplying a substantial part of both natural and
anthropogenic water demands,. They are highly sensitive and prone to climate change,, yet …

Mountains as “Water Towers” play an important role for the surrounding lowlands. This is
particularly true of the world's semiarid and arid zones, where the contributions of mountains …

Mountain areas provide disproportionally high runoff in many parts of the world, but their
importance for water resources and food production has not been clarified from the …

Protecting the world's freshwater resources requires diagnosing threats over a broad range
of scales, from global to local. Here we present the first worldwide synthesis to jointly …

BY QUIRIN SCHIERMEIER When pondering the best way to study the impact of climate
change, researcher Hans Joachim Schellnhuber liked to recall an old Hindu fable. Six men …

The important role of mountains in supplying fresh water is discussed. Various case studies
from Africa, Middle East, Central Asia, Americas and Oceania are presented and the …

The location and persistence of surface water (inland and coastal) is both affected by climate
and human activity 1 and affects climate 2, 3, biological diversity 4 and human wellbeing 5 …

Mountains are important sources of freshwater for the adjacent lowlands. In view of
increasingly scarce freshwater resources, this contribution should be clarified. While earlier …

Mountains are an essential component of the global life-support system. They are
characterized by a rugged, heterogenous landscape with rapidly changing environmental …

Governments worldwide do not adequately protect their limited freshwater systems and
therefore place freshwater functions and attendant ecosystem services at risk. The best …