Climate change in high elevation regions: a short overview and some preliminary 
data analysis

High elevation regions, such as the Rockies, the Alps or the Tibetan Plateau, 
provide fresh water to some of the most populated regions of the world. However, 
there are indications that not only warming is observed in these regions, which 
may have direct consequences on the survival of high altitude glaciers, it is 
also occurring at a greater rate than at lower altitudes for similar latitudes. 
Why this is happening is still the object of active research. Observations are 
needed to understand which feedbacks are most prominent in these cold, dry and 
snow covered regions. However, ground-based observations are difficult to 
acquire in these rugged, unfriendly and inaccessible regions. Satellite on the 
other hand can provide invaluable information in these regions but their 
accuracy may be degraded.
In this presentation I will present a short review of arbitrarily chosen studies 
that present evidence of warming at high elevation. I will then describe some of 
the work already done with observations to investigate the feedbacks possibly 
responsible for the greater rate of warming. Some model studies will also be 
summarized. I will then show how satellite retrievals can be used to investigate 
feedbacks at high elevations.