THE GUARDIAN
A quarter of European ski resorts will have scarce snow every other year with 2C of global heating, a comprehensive analysis has found. It calls into question whether such resorts have a future as the climate crisis intensifies.
The study took into account artificial snowmaking, without which half the resorts would have scarce snow every other year at 2C. Current action and policies mean the world is on track for 2.7C of global heating.
The researchers also examined the impact of ski tourism on the climate and found artificial snowmaking contributed just 2% of overall emissions. Tourist flights to resorts and accommodation were the main causes of emissions.
Artificial snowmaking in some resorts in the Alps, Nordic countries and Turkey could compensate for snow shortfalls as the climate heats, the study found. But snowmaking is unlikely to help in resorts in Britain and southern Europe, where it will frequently become too warm to create snow in the first place, or the snow that can be made will melt very quickly.
The $30bn (£23.8bn) European ski industry hosts 80% of the world’s resorts, with more than a million day visits a year. The most recent ski season was a poor one, with record-breaking warm winter weather closing ski slopes from Chamonix in France to Innsbruck in Austria.
Dr Samuel Morin, research scientist at Météo-France and CNRS in Toulouse and Grenoble, said: “Ski tourism is a niche issue in the face of climate change, but from the point of view of the people who live in the mountains and make a living from the industry, it is very important to really understand to what extent climate change is threatening the activity, and to take into account the impact this activity has on the climate.”
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