Land-cover changes in mountain areas increasing fatalities from landslides: A Global Perspective

Landslides are one of the most devastating geohazards that cause substantial loss of life and socio-economic damage in mountainous areas worldwide every year. Landslides are becoming more common due to increased anthropogenic disturbance, threatening sustainable development in mountainous environments. Population pressure and associated land cover changes are expected to increase the frequency and impacts of landslides. However, only a small number of studies have investigated this on a global scale. Here, we examine the interactions between land cover change, population change, landslide, and landslide fatalities across mountain areas of 46 countries based on income level. We calculate a ~60-year-long land cover change and a 45-year-long population change rate and create linear regression models to assess their relationship with landslides and landslide fatalities. Our results show that there is a significant relationship between land cover and population changes in mountainous areas. Also, land cover change in lower-middle and low-income countries, where the degree of change and human intervention is notably higher, occurs at a greater rate and intensity compared to other income groups. Furthermore, our findings indicate that landslide and fatalities density increase substantially as land cover change increases, again in lower-middle and low-income countries. This observation points toward change in land cover as a critical factor in landscape dynamics and highlights human pressure as a pre-conditioning/triggering factor for fatal landslides. Consequently, the high spatial overlap between fatal landslides and land cover change highlights critical areas where it is essential to prioritize landslide mitigation measures to protect vulnerable mountain environments and maintain resilient societies, particularly in lower-middle and low-income countries.