Global warming could hit ski hills hard: study
Canadian Press
December 15, 2003 6:23 AM ET
OTTAWA — The global ski industry is in for a slide as climate change reduces average snowfall and melts glaciers, says a study done for the UN Environmental Program.
Snowfall at low-altitude ski resorts will become increasingly unreliable and unpredictable in coming years, says the study by researchers at the University of Zurich, Switzerland.
It says the ski season in Eastern Canada could, if current snowmaking technology remains in use, decline by between seven and 32 per cent by 2050.
"Climate change will have the effect of pushing more and more winter sports higher and higher up mountains," said lead researcher Rolf Burki.
"As ski resorts in lower altitudes face bankruptcy, the pressure in highly environmentally sensitive upper-altitude areas rises along with the pressures to build new ski lifts and other infrastructure."
Climate change is already affecting some of the world's most popular skiing regions, says the report. An estimated 15 per cent of Swiss resorts now have unreliable snowfall.
Some Italian resorts are also having major problems. In Austria, the snow line is expected to rise 200 to 300 metres over the next 30 to 50 years.
Colin Chedore, president of the Canadian Ski Council, said Canadian ski operators are aware of the climate issue but don't expect problems in the forseeable future.
"When you get into the higher mountains we don't think it will be a problem. They may have to make snow at the lower levels, which a lot of them are doing now.
"When you get into Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada we've got incredible, powerful snowmaking systems and new technology."
Modern snowmaking equipment can cover an acre of land with a foot of snow in an hour, he said.
"If you ever did a tour of some of these resorts . . . you'll likely see hundreds of miles of pipe, they're like refineries with major investments into compressors and pumps."
But Chedore acknowledged the technology is useless if temperatures rise above zero.
The UNEP report suggests that warmer temperatures could make snowmaking "inefficient and expensive, if not impossible."
Nor are high mountain resorts immune to the climate threat.
Melting permafrost will increase the risk of landslides at high altitudes and make it more difficult to anchor cable stations, lift masts and other structures, says the report.
Avalanches are expected to become more common above 2,000 metres, a significant concern for Canada's upscale heli-skiing industry.
Swiss glaciers have lost more than a quarter of their surface over the past 150 years. Glacial cover along the eastern slope of the Rockies is close to its lowest level in 10,000 years, according to Statistics Canada.
The UN International Panel on Climate Change estimates that average temperatures will rise by between 1.4 degrees C and 5.8 degrees C by 2100 unless action is taken to significantly cut greenhouse emissions.