08/29/2023 05:00 (att. 08/29/2023 05:00)
Climate change is threatening Europe’s ski resorts. ©APA/EXPA/JOHANN GRODER (symbol image)
Rising temperatures caused by the climate crisis also have consequences for ski areas in Europe. From just 2 degrees, more than half of the 2,234 European ski areas analyzed have a “very high risk” of insufficient supply of natural snow.
Europe is the biggest ski tourism market in the world. Around 50% of all ski areas in the world are in Europe, including over 80% of the world’s ski areas, which are visited by over a million skiers a year.
More artificial snow needed due to climate crisis
The ski tourism industry therefore plays an important economic role in many European mountain regions. But the reduction in snow cover as a result of climate change is affecting ski resorts across the continent, leading to a dramatic increase in the number of days when skiing is not possible. Ski areas are therefore increasingly resorting to snow production. However, their effectiveness varies greatly and their use in mountainous areas is controversial.
Climate crisis causes insufficient supply of snow in ski areas
The present study was carried out by Hugues François from the French Institute of Agriculture, Food and the Environment and Franz Prettenthaler from Joanneum Research in Graz in cooperation with the University of Grenoble Alpes and Meteo France, among others, and was published in “Nature Climate Change”. . We analyzed 2,234 ski areas in 28 European countries and also examined the potential and effects of artificial snow.
Scientists have determined that 53 percent of European ski areas will be exposed to a “very high risk” of insufficient snow supply with global warming of two degrees Celsius. At four degrees Celsius – and according to Prettenthaler this scenario cannot yet be ruled out – 98% of ski areas are affected.
Large regional differences in the effects of the climate crisis on ski areas
But there are big regional differences: while skiing was still possible in at least some ski areas in Austria, Switzerland, France and the Nordic countries, even with four degrees of warming, it seems that for other areas like the Apennines in Italy, the mountains Iberian islands or Great Britain “looked very bad long before”, said the scientist from Graz in the interview with the APA.
In addition to natural precipitation, the researchers also calculated the snow production factor: if half the area of the ski areas can be covered with snow, the risk percentage is reduced, but with an increase of two degrees Celsius, 27 percent of European ski areas and at four degrees Celsius, 71 percent are affected by a very high risk of lack of snow.
Artificial snow is further aggravating the climate crisis
However, the production of artificial snow also increases the demand for water and electricity and therefore brings with it additional CO2 emissions, which are likely to further drive global warming. Furthermore, a snow production system does not guarantee that it can be used when necessary – for example, when temperatures are too high, and it was precisely this effect that was taken into account for the first time. Overall, the contribution to CO2 emissions from snow production remains relatively small in winter tourism as a whole. Accommodation and travel emit far more emissions: “Snow production is normally overestimated, but without it winter tourism would probably not be possible in many places,” says Prettenthaler.
The researcher from Graz assumes that snow production will therefore be profitable for a long time, but it is still up for debate whether this will also make sense from an ecological point of view for that long. It also sees the first casualties of climate change to date, as many small snowless ski areas have already ceased operations.
Austria better prepared for the consequences of the climate crisis in the ski areas
When asked specifically about Austria’s ski areas, Prettenthaler said many had already “guaranteed” that the temperature would rise by two degrees Celsius. “Austria also relied on snow production relatively early and managed to save some ski areas with it.” In Austria, 294 ski areas with a total area of 221 square kilometers were analyzed for the study. It turned out that with two degrees of warming plus 50% snow production, around three percent of Austrian ski areas will still have a high risk of snowlessness. At three degrees it is 13 percent and at four degrees 38 percent of Austrian ski areas would be affected by a very high risk of lack of snow, despite snow production systems.
The authors emphasize that snow forecasts are based on simplified assumptions and their results should not be taken as definitive. However, they do offer opportunities to better take into account the impact of climate change on the ski tourism industry. Incidentally, not all winters with little snow can be attributed to the increase in climate change in recent decades: already in the years 1961 to 1990, one in every five winters was without snow. If the temperature rises by two degrees Celsius, two out of five winters will have little snow, three degrees out of three winters, and four degrees Celsius out of four winters. According to Prettenthaler, economic ski operations are no longer conceivable without snow in 99 percent of ski areas.