17:16 02Dec2003 RTRS-Global warming could rob ski resorts of snow-study

By Jane Barrett
TURIN, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Picture-postcard villages nestling in Alpine
valleys may be left bare of snow and robbed of the winter tourism that keeps
them going as global warming strengthens its grip, new research showed on
Tuesday.
Global temperatures are expected to rise by up to three degrees Celsius
in the next 50 years, melting glaciers, raising the snow line up mountains
and crippling the ski industry, according to the U.N. Environment Programme
(UNEP) study.
"The temperature changes will be more violent in the northern hemisphere
during winter, so ski resorts are seriously at risk," said Rolf Burki, who
carried out the research.
Slopes above 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) are now considered viable ski areas
but, according to the report, in 30 to 50 years skiers will have to trek to
altitudes of 1,500 to 1,800 metres (4,900 - 5,900 ft).
And even up there, resorts will not be out of global warming's reach.
Environmentalists say Alpine glaciers and permafrost -- frozen soil --
could melt entirely by the end of the century if temperatures keep rising,
making resorts more vulnerable to landslides.
Some scenarios suggest global warming could increase snow fall above
2,000 metres (6,600 ft). Without a solid base of permafrost, that could
raise the risk of avalanches, Burki told a conference that coincided with a
major environmental meeting in Milan.
COSTLY BUSINESS
Most top Alpine resorts are high in the mountains but smaller, lower
villages that depend on tourism for survival are already seeing global
warming wreak havoc on winter sports.
Banks have stopped lending to Swiss resorts below 1,500 metres (4,900
ft), worried they will never get their money from ski fields that will have
to invest millions in snow-making equipment to stay viable over the next
decade, Burki said.
About a third of Switzerland's resorts, mostly small fields where
children learn to ski, are already struggling to survive.
Some top resorts like Cortina d'Ampezzo in eastern Italy or Austria's
Kitzbuhel are dotted with barrels blowing snow onto the lower slopes so
people can ski back to town.
But the cost of snow-making is too high for any but the richest resorts.
Laying the infrastructure of water pipes and turbines to make a
kilometre-long slope costs 500,000 euros (about $600,000). Puffing snow out
of the system costs another 30,000 euros ($36,000) a year, said Burki, who
researches economic geography at the University of Zurich.
"Man is clever at creating technology to substitute nature but it only
goes halfway," said Klaus Toepfer, executive director of UNEP.
"Unless tough decisions are taken about global warming -- from
politicians to ski resorts themselves polluting less -- skiing will look
very different to future generations than it does now."

($1=.8371 Euro)


For Related News, Double Click on one of these codes:
[G] [ESL] [RNP] [PGE] [EMK] [IT] [WEU] [EUROPE] [CH] [DE] [FR] [AT] [ENV]
[WEA] [ALPS] [LEN] [RTRS]
Tuesday, 02 December 2003 17:16:39
RTRS [nL02262337] {EN}
ENDS