EU Ski Resorts and Climate Change

From Euractiv (20 Jan 2023):

There are around 3,900 ski resorts in Europe, the majority of which are located in Germany, Italy, France and Austria.

Most threatened are those in lower altitudes because the snow line, which marks the area with permanent cover, moves up by about 150 metres with each increase of 1 degree Celsius.

“We are already experiencing warmer winters, which will escalate beyond 2030″ and further deteriorate skiing conditions, according to the Slovak Institute of Environmental Policy.

“Towards the end of the century, only high altitude ski resorts will be sustainable,” the institute wrote in its analysis.

Data from hundreds of stations in Alpine countries between 1971 and 2019 show that the snow cover drops by 8.4% each decade between November and May.

In Austria, the number of days with full snow cover has decreased by an average of 40 days since 1961. The decline is particularly drastic in altitudes below 1,500 metres.

According to the study conducted by the University of Innsbruck, the duration of the natural snow cover would decrease by 70% by 2100 at an altitude of 1,000 metres if warming is not limited to 2 degrees Celsius.