The social cost of glacier retreat: climate change impacts on ecosystem services of glacierized regions in Norway

Abstract

Glaciers are an important indicator of climate change, expressing earth system changes in highly visible ways across different regions of the world. Beyond their role in earth systems balance, climate regulation, nutrient cycling and a myriad of other ecosystem processes, glaciers hold profound social importance. Using a structured interview at three glaciered regions of Norway, we have identified some of the ways in which glaciers contribute to human-well-being. We look beyond traditional ecosystem service valuation and delve into the non-material, cultural ecosystem services such as identity, history, and recreation. From our results, we find that people seem to value cultural ecosystem services over the material services like energy production, with over fifty percent of respondents remarking that the glaciers are important aspect of local or national identity. The most frequently identified ecosystem service was tourism (93.41%) From the sample of 91 (n=91) participants, we also evaluated the potential consequences as some of the identified ecosystem services are lost or transformed in the face of climate change. These reflections pointed to social costs in the categories of tourism, biodiversity, and increased risk for hazards associated with glacial retreat.