Diaz, H. F. (Ed.), 2003: Climate Variability and Change in High
Elevation Regions: Past, Present and Future, Kluwer Academic
Publishers, 282 pp. The world's mountain systems, including the
people in them, have gained international attention in the last
few decades. The United Nations' International Year of
Mountains-2002 can be regarded as the culmination of a long
process involving research, development of research networks, a
greater awareness by various sectors of society of the critical
importance of mountain regions for a sustainable future, and
recognition of that fact by policy makers. This volume reviews
recent climatic trends in high elevation regions of the world,
assessing the reliability of various environmental indicators
that can be used for monitoring climatic change, and assessing
whether physical impacts of climatic change in high elevation
areas are becoming evident, and to discuss a range of monitoring
strategies needed to observe and to understand the nature of
such changes.