However this view overlooks the fact that mountains are vital in regulating and maintaining the global water cycle, without which, we could not survive.
Mountain regions and the biodiversity within these regions, perform crucial functions in regulating global water and climate. They store fresh water in the form of ice and snow and in lakes, wetlands and reservoirs.
It is the rich variety of mixed biodiversity that once abundantly covered these regions, which performs so many functions enabling freshwater to be both conserved and carried around the Earth.
The climate of Earth and the global water cycle are so closely interrelated that anything that impacts upon either one, naturally impacts upon the other.
The Mountain regions of the world form an interdependent, integrated global system. They need to be regarded, as ‘Global Commons’ and their ecosystems need to be conserved and restored in an interrelated manner, on a global scale. Repairing or conserving one mountain range such as the Alps and ignoring the others will not prove to be an adequate solution.
This is an example of what is presently happening and is a global situation, happening throughout the Himalayas, Andes, the Alps and mountain regions throughout the whole world. This glacial recession is bringing about climate changes and water shortages globally. All of our families and both present and future generations are threatened. Hence we should do what we can to fix the problems as adaptation to a world without glaciers or freshwater is impossible.