The Australian Alps could be in trouble if we don’t do anything about it. Photo: Matt Wiseman//Protect Our Winters Australia
A new report claims the Australian ski industry is at risk of major disruptions if the current level of climate pollution continues. The findings were based on new modeling from Protect Our Winters Australia (POW) and The Australian National University (ANU), which summarized a broad range of academic literature about current and projected climate change impacts on the Australian Alps, and how they will affect the Australian ski industry.
According to the report, the average ski season across all resorts in Australia will be 44 days shorter by 2050 under a mid-greenhouse gas emissions scenario and 55 days shorter under a high-emissions scenario. These scenarios would also see a dramatic decline in the region’s already unreliable snowfall. The researchers argue that, unless urgent action is taken, this could cause some ski resorts to close permanently.
However, there is a ray of hope – the modeling indicates that long ski seasons are still possible with effective mitigation, particularly for higher altitude resorts. Under a low-emissions scenario, the ski season would only be 28 days shorter by 2050, and start to improve by 2080 if emissions remain at that level.
Of course, snowsports in Australia have already been affected by climate change. The report notes that the Australian snowpack is now at a 2,000-year low, snow cover between 1954 and 2012 has reduced by 3o percent and the length of the ski season has already shrunk by 17-28 percent across most Australian alpine resorts. These changes have wide-ranging effects on businesses in communities in these regions, which are only expected to exacerbate.
“We need to support vulnerable resorts to diversify into year-round tourism. This could include a coordinated approach between state governments, assisted by the Australian Alps Liaison Committee or Australian Alps Ministerial Council, to support those ski resorts that are most at risk,” said report co-author and ANU researcher Ruby Olsson to Phys.org.
“The more we can limit the impacts of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the less expensive adaptation by businesses, communities, and the environment will be and the more options we will have. Waiting to act increases the risk of resort closure or species extinction. Resort closures and extinctions are difficult or impossible to undo. So, this decade is critical in terms of taking urgent climate action.”
Protect Our Winters Australia Director and Lead Advocate Sam Quirke added, “The ski season last year was tough, with minimal snowfall and some resorts having to shut their doors early. This report shows that we’ll see that happening more and more frequently, as ski seasons become more erratic and harder to predict due to global warming, until we do something about it.”
