A number of ski resorts, including a cluster in the French Alps are facing a bleak future as rising average temperatures leave them without snow, and for some even the ability to make snow artificially.
Montclar, France, at 1350 metres above sea level had a ‘green Christmas’ this year, and its extensive snow gun system, built up over the years since it was a pioneer of artificial snow in the 1980s, couldn’t operate effectively in the temperature. In what is probably one of the most extreme non-green ways of approaching the climate crisis, a helicopter was hired to fly snow in from above the 2000 metre line. The cost was huge.
The International Commission for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA), says temperatures in the mountain range have risen by nearly 2C in the past 120 years, which is twice the global average. As a result, towns below the 1500 metre level can no longer count on consistent snow coverage, compared to 1200 metres in the 1960s.
