Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Cross-Chapter-Paper-5 (section)

=== FAQ CCP5.2 | Do people in mountain regions, and further downstream, face more severe risks to water-related disasters due to climate change, and how are they coping? ===

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''Mountain regions have always been affected by either too much or too little water. Because of climate change, hazards are changing rapidly and becoming even more unpredictable. Whether or not these changes will result in more disasters locally and further downstream depends on several factors, not least the fact that more people are settling in exposed locations. People in mountains have a history of developing skills to live in a dangerous and dynamic environment, which will be invaluable in the future when combined with inclusive and long-term disaster risk reduction measures.''

Water-related hazards in mountains include rainfall (pluvial) and river (fluvial) floods, extreme rainfall-induced landslides, debris flows, ice and snow avalanches and droughts. When people are exposed and vulnerable to these hazards, disasters can result. Floods and landslides in mountains contribute to and count among the most devastating disasters globally, often resulting in significant losses such as high numbers of fatalities and economic and property damage. Climate change may alter rainfall frequency/intensity distributions, potentially leading to floods and droughts. Climate change may also lead to shifts in precipitation type, with more precipitation falling as rain rather than snow in the future, which will further impact both short- and long-term water storage and, therefore, will impact downstream ecosystems and cities.

Although climate change directly affects water-related hazards, studies indicate that above and beyond natural hazards, disaster risk and disasters are influenced to a major extent by vulnerability and exposure. This is of relevance in mountains, where disaster risk is influenced by population growth, induced displacements, land use changes and inefficient water distribution systems. For example, current trends suggest that more people are settling in exposed locations, with more infrastructure being built and activities such as tourism and recreation being promoted, exacerbating this exposure.

Experiences in dealing with water-related disasters provide a basis on which to build adequate responses to increasing risks in the future. For example, upgrading infrastructure like dams and embankments can help address water shortages, but diversification of income-generating activities, such as subsistence farming moving away from certain drought-sensitive crops, can also help.

The risk perceptions of people also shape their behaviours in coping with disaster risks. For example, based on their longstanding observations and local knowledge, communities in the southern part of the Peruvian Andes identified the shrinking of glaciers, more frequent and intense extreme weather events, more extreme temperatures and shortened rainy seasons as key challenges. The recognition of local knowledge is key to addressing these challenges, as well as providing a basis for the transformation of current systems. A lack of community involvement and participation in decision making on how to address disaster risk can contribute to mismatches between perceptions and behaviours in face of those risks, and the actions needed to reduce losses. Therefore, measures which are flexible, address the objectives and needs of all those affected by disasters and bring long-term benefits have more chances of being successful in dealing with future disaster risks.

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