Global warming threatens not only summer but also winter recreation. This is the sad reason why you can forget about the usual ski tourism.
Already this season, the same Turkish resorts practically “failed” the season due to problems with snow, many popular European resorts were also affected – from Chamonix in France to Innsbruck in Austria due to record temperatures. And the situation will only get worse, climatologists assure.
According to a study published in the journal “Climate Change in Nature”, almost all resorts in southern Europe will be at risk of climate change. “Without artificial snow, and if global greenhouse gas emissions are reduced only to the degree that current policy implies (about 3°C), 100% of resorts in Southern Europe will face very high risks in terms of snow availability,” the study says. In this case, the most popular alpine resorts will be at risk – 93% of resorts in the French Alps, 94% of Austrian resorts will fall into the risk zone, and the worst will happen to German and Italian ski resorts in the Alps – all 100% are in the risk zone. as well as Turkey.
If the increase is limited to 1.5°C, the situation will be a little easier – in this case, only Italians will be affected – 69% of resorts there will remain at risk, in Germany and Turkey – about 20%, and the Austrians, French, and Swiss will be lucky – the risk zone will not exceed 10%
At the same time, artificial snowmaking is not a panacea, experts add. At a minimum, an increase in the production of artificial snow will lead to an average increase in water demand at resorts by 20%. And there are already problems with water in Europe after two extremely hot years in a row.