Unusually Warm Winter Creates Snow Shortage For Ski Slopes In Alps

The Alps, which are the tallest and largest mountain range located wholly in Europe, are well known around the world for skiing and snowboarding. This mountain range spans seven European nations: France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia. It is home to numerous world-class resorts. But due to an unusually warm winter, ski holidays in the Alps could become a thing of the past thanks to climate change.

According to The Independent, Europe has recently seen warmer-than-average temperatures. Patches of grass, gravel, and dirt can be seen in some of Europe's premier ski resorts in France, Austria, and Switzerland, reviving fears about rising temperatures connected to climate change. In recent days, Poland has had daily highs that are over 50 degrees Fahrenheit, or double digits Celsius.

Finding cold and snow has been more difficult recently, according to a report in The Conversation. There hasn't been any snow in Saint-Firmin, a little French village, for more than ten years, so it just scrapped its ski lift, which was built in 1964.

"This year, seven of eight early-season World Cup skiing events have been cancelled due to another very warm summer in the Alps, when record-breaking temperatures reminded us that high-altitude environments are not immune to excessive heat."

A number of ski resorts that depend on holiday ski travel, including those in France, Switzerland, and Austria, have shut down.

Snowy slopes are rapidly disappearing due to increased global warming, according to researchers from the University of Basel. According to their research, precipitation will still fall over the Alps as temperatures rise, but it will primarily come in the form of rain rather than snow.