Climate Change threatens the future of Ski Resorts in Europe

According to experts, lack of snow this season, is a precursor to a worrisome future, as global temperatures continue to rise because of human-induced climate change. As winters are getting shorter due to global warming, winter tourism in Europe is getting impacted negatively. There is a lack of snow in the Alps and there are no ski areas any more that are guaranteed snow in the winter months. This includes areas in the high altitudes of the Alps, even those areas that in the past always used to be snowclad at all times between December to March. Winter resorts unfortunately face a bleak future, as many regions of Europe are currently completely snow-free due to unusually mild weather.

While snow is not there naturally, attempts are being made to extend the ski season with artificial snow or snow transported by trucks or helicopters to make narrow runs and smaller stretches of snowy areas, snaking down the barren mountains and rocky slopes. However, artificial snow damages the environment. Reservoirs are created for large-scale artificial snowmaking. These oversized reservoirs need to hold a huge capacity of water for creating snow with snow cannons. The huge capacity is never available locally and water is drawn from great distances. Needless to say, pumping it up causes high energy costs. This is a huge burden on the already stressed energy system in the wake of the energy crisis in Europe.

In view of the energy crisis, governments are considering various options to help the ski resorts as winter tourism is a major source of income in some regions of Europe. Tapping the groundwater has also been suggested but this way to source water is still in initial stages of research. Moreover, this is also not a permanent solution considering that Europe already lacks groundwater and since 2018 has been experiencing severe drought. Consistently low groundwater levels were also confirmed by satellite data analyzed at the Institute of Geodesy at Technical University in Graz, Austria.

Considering that scientists have already warned that Europe is on the edge of a water disaster, and water shortage is already beginning to affect agriculture, wildlife and habitats, governments need to look at more permanent solutions to reduce global warming and mitigate the effects of climate change rather than seek short term fixes that create other problems. Saving winter tourism should not create droughts, food insecurity and other problems in summer. It is time that our world works together

Please refer to the weblink below to visualize the problem through a series of photos compiled by Euronews, showing Europe's winter snow shortage.

https://www.euronews.com/2023/01/07/in-pictures-europes-snowless-ski-resorts

Reference

https://www.rnd.de/reise/wintersport-in-europa-skigebiete-laut-expertin-nicht-mehr-schneesicher-7QBI67UJ5P4GIWQBV5AKRQDYXE.html

Photo Credit

https://pxhere.com/en/photo/590763