Europe is the world’s largest ski tourism market. The old continent unites around 50% of the total number of stations in the worldand more than 80% of those who receive more than 1 million tourists per year. And in terms of the number of visitors, it does not lag behind: 60% of all registered in the world receive here (of which 43% are only in the Alps).

In 2019, before the arrival of covid, 209 million skiers visited our continent. Various reports suggest that all of these numbers have led to an increase in business volume. more than 30,000 million euros per year. But then again, all of this could be threatened by climate change.

So far, various reports have been produced that have examined this issue at the local or national level. But a new study published Monday in the journal Nature Climate change quantified the impact of global warming on ski resortsand assessed the impact of snowfall on the environment, the production of artificial snow to counteract this phenomenon.

A new study collected data after conducting comprehensive analysis of 2234 ski resorts in 28 European countries. And, they explain, in a scenario in which the planet warms 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, 53% of stations face a “very high” risk of no snow. If the temperature increase was 4°C, it would severely damage 98% of the slopes, although there would be “large regional differences”.

make artificial snow

“Ski resorts depend on reliable and predictable snow cover, making them highly vulnerable to climate change. And one way to respond to these changes is to invest in artificial snowmaking, which could provide a reliable supply of snow at certain times of the year in some areas,” the researchers explained.

Ski resort operators have always warned of intermittent lack of snow due to strong inter-annual meteorological variability. Therefore, predicting how often and how much snow will fall has become a big problem. But now the impact of climate warming may significantly threaten the economic sustainability of the sector.

To evaluate the impact of artificial snow production, the authors analyzed ski resorts that regularly use this resource. And they came to the conclusion that, believing that snow can cover up to 50% of the area of ​​the ski resort, the percentage of footprints at risk from climate change can be reduced, but only to a certain extent. 27% of the population will still be at risk of a 2°C increase from pre-industrial levels, and 71% will be affected if the increase is 4°C.

But in return, snow production will increase the demand for water and electricity (and the associated carbon emissions). “While this represents a modest share of the global carbon footprint of ski tourism, snowfall is peculiar to tourism activities ski tourism and represents some of the key challenges at the interface between climate change, adaptation, mitigation and sustainable development,” the researchers said.

Impact of production

Eat Several factors involved in snow formation: local climate (can only be done if the temperature remains low enough), local environment (water resources, local ecosystems, etc.), wider socio-economic functioning of ski tourism in mountain areas and the impact of ski tourism on climate through greenhouse gas emissions.

It should be remembered that global tourism (not only ski tourism) responsible for 8.1% of greenhouse gas emissions, 49.1% of this contribution falls on transport. “Tourism strongly influences local and regional socio-ecological systems, supporting people’s livelihoods, but also influencing biodiversity and resource use,” the study says.

However, the authors note that these snowfall forecasts are based on simplified assumptions. And, in particular, in terms of coverage and demand for resources from snow production, and his conclusions should not be considered final.. But, nevertheless, they believe that it is very useful to start studying this phenomenon in depth.

“Assessing the extent to which past and future climate change is affecting ski resorts across Europe is critical to developing meaningful development paths. this key sector of the European tourism industry especially in the context of the European Green Deal,” the researchers explained.

This applies not only to adaptation to climate change, but also to its mitigation, and it is necessary to take into account pressure on the environment and local resources such as water and energy. As a result, ski tourism faces “complex and interconnected sustainability challenges in the context of global change”.

“Quantification of the long-term effects of climate change and the risks associated with the supply of snow for European ski tourism requires taking into account not only the evolution of climate forcing factors (temperature increase, decrease in snow cover) and associated risks (frequency of warm and/or little snowy winters), as well as their combination with the impact (geographical location, altitude range) from ski resorts, individual and collective vulnerability of ski resorts”, concluded study.