Weather-Based Disasters and Farming Communities in the Western Alps, 1650-1850

Because of the scale at which the key socio-cultural variables involved in climate-society interactions operate, analysis of such interactions benefits from a regional approach. Like all mountain regions, the western Alps possess a complex mosaic of topographically varied climates, or “topoclimates,” that can generate an array of damaging weather-based disasters, which impact residents at different scales. Cultural practices employed by Alpine farming communities in the latter period of the Little Ice Age (1650–1850) increased their vulnerability to such events, and their long-term stability relied on successful mitigation and coping strategies.