Ski slopes/climate change: losing the drift
Resorts are grimly contemplating potential losses, but changes will be uneven
Each snow flake is unique. A lack of them creates an identical problem for many ski resorts. They rely increasingly on snow-making machines. The crystals made from water and compressed air cover the rocky, brown patches that would otherwise close the slopes.
Snow cover has been declining at an average rate of five days per decade in the northern hemisphere. Climate models suggest worse is to come, as the chart shows. A lot of the damage is caused by rain at lower altitudes. Higher up, the problem is increased melt.
Of the 21 resorts used for the Olympic Winter Games, only 13 would have enough snow to host the event in 2050, researchers say. That assumes warming could be kept below 2˚C by 2100, under the most restrained emissions scenario. Another study looked at 310 vulnerable resorts in the eastern Alps, such as Italy’s South Tyrol. It found 2°C warming would reduce the number of ski areas capable of operating a 100-day season by nearly a third.
Resorts are grimly contemplating their potential losses. Even with just a 2°C rise, European hoteliers are estimated to lose more than €500m by the century end. In the US revenue losses from tickets and day fees alone could be as high as $2bn in 2090 under the “worst case” projection that sees temperatures potentially rising above 4°C.
But the challenges are not just from climate change. Skier numbers worldwide are only growing thanks to the Chinese enthusiasm for the sport. In Switzerland, where foreign tourists struggle with a strong franc, the number of ski days dropped by nearly a quarter in the nine years to 2017-18.
Changes will be uneven. The reduction of snow cover will be greatest in the spring. While average snowfall will decrease, extreme conditions might intensify. That might mean more heavy blizzards of the sort that hit Alpine ski resorts in 2018. Some, like Verbier, opened a month ahead of schedule.