Fossil shells in 400 million year old limestone near the arid, 8.8 km high summit of Mount Everest provide clear evidence for large-scale uplift of the Himalaya. South of the range crest, the southern flank of the Himalaya descends to near sea level and receives several meters of rain from the southeastern monsoon each summer. To the north, the Tibetan Plateau rises to an average elevation of 5 km and experiences a semi-arid climate.
The spatial juxtaposition of these contrasting physiographic regions and their strikingly different climates raise two fundamental questions: how does mountain uplift affect climate and climate change; and to what extent does climate change affect the uplift of mountain belts? Everyday experience indicates that mountains affect weather and climate. Clouds gather around mountain summits, rainfall is commonly greater at higher elevations, and precipitation is typically reduced downwind of mountain ranges. The provocative contention that climate could affect...
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Burbank, D.W. (2009). Mountain Uplift and Climate Change. In: Gornitz, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Paleoclimatology and Ancient Environments. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4411-3_148
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