Caroline Baudry, edited by Laura Laplaud 7:30 am, November 07, 2021
While the COP26 is currently taking place in Glasgow, Scotland, the heads of state will resume their negotiations to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees by 2100, compared to the pre-industrial era, and thus secure the recommendations of the Paris Agreement of 2015. In the Hautes-Alpes, plant species are already the victims.
"What is happening at the moment is totally astounding in terms of speed and amplitude," says Jean-Gabriel Valay, director of the Jardin Alpin du Col du Lautaret in the Hautes-Alpes.
The plant species in the Garden are already experiencing the symptoms of global warming.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the planet has already gained +1.1 degree.
The mountain is warming up
From the Jardins du Lautaret chalets at an altitude of 2,100 meters, the director Jean-Gabriel Valay sees the conifers higher and higher in the mountain, able to grow now in warmed places. In this research center, dozens of scientists from all over the world come to see it every year. "As a consequence: the plants which need the most extreme conditions, which will grow in extremely exposed cliffs, which need frost and cold, right next to the glaciers are threatened if this environment disappears", affirms- he. "But the problem is, the change is extremely rapid."
The mountainous environment is warming two to three times faster than the rest of the planet.
A climate change that is too rapid to allow time for living beings to adapt to their new environment, according to changes across generations.
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