While we humans evolved in the Rift Valley of East Africa, our species has long been enamored with mountainous terrain. Camps, cabins, caves and towns in the mountains offered beautiful scenery, plenty of clean water and a diverse variety of wild game. Even today their appeal persists though modern life diminishes the need to hunt for food.
As our climate warms, however, the risks of mountain living have increased significantly. Prolonged drought augments the incidence of forest fires while, as we have seen in Asheville, North Carolina, and eastern Kentucky, torrential rains over mountainous topography can cause tragic flooding. Just this week, a mountain glacier fractured in Switzerland, sending a slurry of ice, water, mud and vegetation downhill, burying a small village; fortunately, an advanced warning saved most of the residents.
Mountains will always appeal to humans but living on or beneath them, like living on barrier islands or on major river floodplains, will become increasingly risky and expensive as climate change remolds the planet.
