ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is (a) to situate mountain geomorphology in the context of global envi-ronmental change, and to show (b) that mountains are drivers of global environmental change over longer geological timescales, (c) that mountains regulate the rhythm of geomorphic work over a Quaternary timescale, (d) that mountain environments are sensitive in their response to climatic and anthropogenic changes over Late Glacial, Holocene and contemporary timescales, (e) that the reflex-ive relation between human activity and geomorphic processes in mountains raises the question of how to deal with complexity, and (f) that monitoring of socio-economic and geomorphic processes in mountains will be needed to provide an early warning of future environmental change. Implicit in this requirement is a need for flexible institutional mechanisms that transcend political boundaries. Global environmental change is a constant feature of Earth history. It continues today and will be even more complex in the future as the twin driving forces of tectonics and climate are reinforced by the increasingly pervasive role of human activity (Slaymaker, 1991; Slaymaker and Spencer, 1998).
