The Alps, often referred to as the “water tower” of Europe, are vital for supplying downstream water resources, particularly as they are strongly influenced by snow and glaciers. Climate change poses a major threat to the coping capacity of ecosystems and human communities to climate extremes, such as droughts. Indeed, climate change is intensifying meteorological droughts through complex interactions among rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and changes to the mountain water cycle. As in the Alps, other mountain regions worldwide have already experienced such changes and are trying to cope with them.

This session focuses on drought hazards and impacts in mountain regions, bringing together experts in hydrology, climatology, and cryosphere science. The aim is a  collaborative approach for understanding and addressing drought impacts, examining shifts in water availability, ecosystem health, and socioeconomic vulnerabilities. 

In particular, we encourage contributions that explore case studies of drought impacts in the European Alps (or elsewhere, as informative to the European Alps), investigate up-downstream linkages and propagation processes, discuss challenges in predicting and monitoring drought, and evaluate adaptation strategies for enhancing resilience.