Disasters and Climate Change - Their Relation with Wetland Headwaters

Abstract

Headwaters are very vulnerable parts of natural ecosystems. Climate change in general creates an increase in natural disasters. Today, many hazards, such as snow avalanches or land slides, start in headwaters. Therefore, science should be engaged in the study of headwaters' sustainability, short and long-term weather forecasting (of precipitation, wind in particular), and the practical questions of how to prevent or diminish the influence of natural disasters in headwater environments In this paper, natural disasters, their causes, and observations of natural disasters in Slovenia will be discussed with special reference to prevention and prediction.