 Recreation
Ski resorts face chilling vision: less snow, time, Denver Post, December 16, 2008. Scientists project that by 2030 the snow level could move up 650 feet on Colorado’s Aspen Mountain and the season could be shortened by nearly one week there and by 1 ½ weeks at Utah’s Park City. By 2100, the Aspen ski season could be shortened up to 4 ½ weeks, and Park City could be totally out of snow.
Global warming could hurt ski resort value, Reuters, August 22, 2008. A Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco analysis finds that a 3.6°F warming could cause the value of homes near ski resorts in the western United States to fall by an average of 24 percent due to less precipitation falling as snow and more as rain. At lower elevation ski areas, the decline could be as much as 56 percent.
A little-remarked effect of a changed climate in the West will be increased summer visitation to cooler mountains, as people try to escape heat. As Denver experiences a record-setting string of over 90° days, traffic into the mountains surges. I-70’s Eisenhower Tunnel numbers up amid heat exodus?, Denver Post, August 5, 2008.
Climate is big issue for US hunters, anglers, Reuters, March 8, 2007. Hunters and anglers are concerned about impacts such as early run-off causing lower and warmer summer streamflows.
Speakers claim warming could wipe out snow, and with it skiing in the Wasatch, Salt Lake Tribune, January 10, 2007. Climate models indicate that skiing in Utah will be drastically curtailed by 2075 unless greenhouse gases are controlled.
- Uphill battle, The Missoula Independent, November 30, 2006, and Ski resorts postpone openings, The Missoulian, November 22, 2006. Lack of early season snow in Montana delays ski area opening and spurs a look at the future of skiing, including a summary of what ski areas around the world are doing to adapt to climate change impacts.
- Aspen remains a definite maybe for extra World Cup races, Aspen Times, November 27, 2006. Due to a lack of snow in Europe, consideration is given to moving races to Aspen or Beaver Creek.
Rocky future for Colorado ski resorts? Durango Herald, August 20, 2006. The annual Colorado College State of the Rockies Report published in April projects an 82% decrease in snowpack for the Telluride ski resort by 2085, as well as snowpack declines at ski areas around the state.
Global warming bad news for ski hills. CBC Edmonton, December 21, 2005: Scientists predict that snowfall in the Rocky Mountains will decrease by 8% by 2020, and by as much as 20% by 2050, which would make ski resorts more dependent on snow machines.
Vail Daily, August 26, 2004: Snowball's chance to go down?. "If predicted consequences for global warming are accurate, the bookends for skiing will move in, making the season shorter. Snowmaking will become more necessary and also more expensive. And there will be fewer powder days and more rain days, even in the Rocky Mountains."
|
