Increasing emission rate of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases is the major driver of global temperature increase. Soil microbial respiration is accelerating the release of CO2 in the environment, but the mechanistic understanding of this process is still at its nascent stage. In this note, we discuss the importance of understanding the microbial responses to climate change and associated respiration process in the Indian Himalayan region.

GLOF is low-frequency event, but it often causes enormous loss and damage of life, property and human environment in downstream regions. The economic losses caused by GLOF are much higher than the project costs to early consolidate moraine dam and release flood waters. Glacial lake outbursts can be very difficult and expensive to control, but regional exposure and vulnerability of exposed elements downstream can be reduced by improving adaptation capacity and risk management level.

Mountain regions and the important ecosystem services they provide are considered to be very vulnerable to the current warming, and recent studies suggest that high-mountain environments experience more rapid changes in temperature than environments at lower elevations. Here we analysed weather records for the period 1975–2010 from the Eastern Italian Alps that show that warming occurred both at high and low elevations, but it was less pronounced at high elevations.