Winter tourism under climate change in the Pyrenees and the French Alps: relevance of snowmaking as a technical adaptation
Climate change is increasingly regarded as a threat for winter tourism due to the combined effect of decreasing natural snow amounts and decreasing suitable periods for snowmaking. The present work investigated the snow reliability of 175 ski resorts in France (Alps and Pyrenees), Spain and Andorra...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1325-2019 https://doaj.org/article/a607cc7ed5d44238af5693099e26d1c7 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a607cc7ed5d44238af5693099e26d1c7 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a607cc7ed5d44238af5693099e26d1c7 2023-05-15T18:32:27+02:00 Winter tourism under climate change in the Pyrenees and the French Alps: relevance of snowmaking as a technical adaptation P. Spandre H. François D. Verfaillie M. Pons M. Vernay M. Lafaysse E. George S. Morin 2019-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1325-2019 https://doaj.org/article/a607cc7ed5d44238af5693099e26d1c7 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/1325/2019/tc-13-1325-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-13-1325-2019 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/a607cc7ed5d44238af5693099e26d1c7 The Cryosphere, Vol 13, Pp 1325-1347 (2019) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1325-2019 2022-12-30T21:24:17Z Climate change is increasingly regarded as a threat for winter tourism due to the combined effect of decreasing natural snow amounts and decreasing suitable periods for snowmaking. The present work investigated the snow reliability of 175 ski resorts in France (Alps and Pyrenees), Spain and Andorra under past and future conditions using state-of-the-art snowpack modelling and climate projections using Representative Concentration Pathways RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The natural snow reliability (i.e. without snowmaking) elevation showed a significant spatial variability in the reference period (1986–2005) and was shown to be highly impacted by the ongoing climate change. The reliability elevation using snowmaking is projected to rise by 200 to 300 m in the Alps and by 400 to 600 m in the Pyrenees in the near future (2030–2050) compared to the reference period for all climate scenarios. While 99 % of ski lift infrastructures exhibit adequate snow reliability in the reference period when using snowmaking, a significant fraction (14 % to 25 %) may be considered in a critical situation in the near future. Beyond the mid-century, climate projections highly depend on the scenario with either steady conditions compared to the near future (RCP2.6) or continuous decrease in snow reliability (RCP8.5). Under RCP8.5, our projections show that there would no longer be any snow-reliable ski resorts based on natural snow conditions in the French Alps and Pyrenees (France, Spain and Andorra) at the end of the century (2080–2100). For this time period and this scenario, only 24 resorts are projected to remain reliable with snowmaking, all being located in the Alps. Article in Journal/Newspaper The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles The Cryosphere 13 4 1325 1347 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 P. Spandre H. François D. Verfaillie M. Pons M. Vernay M. Lafaysse E. George S. Morin Winter tourism under climate change in the Pyrenees and the French Alps: relevance of snowmaking as a technical adaptation |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Climate change is increasingly regarded as a threat for winter tourism due to the combined effect of decreasing natural snow amounts and decreasing suitable periods for snowmaking. The present work investigated the snow reliability of 175 ski resorts in France (Alps and Pyrenees), Spain and Andorra under past and future conditions using state-of-the-art snowpack modelling and climate projections using Representative Concentration Pathways RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The natural snow reliability (i.e. without snowmaking) elevation showed a significant spatial variability in the reference period (1986–2005) and was shown to be highly impacted by the ongoing climate change. The reliability elevation using snowmaking is projected to rise by 200 to 300 m in the Alps and by 400 to 600 m in the Pyrenees in the near future (2030–2050) compared to the reference period for all climate scenarios. While 99 % of ski lift infrastructures exhibit adequate snow reliability in the reference period when using snowmaking, a significant fraction (14 % to 25 %) may be considered in a critical situation in the near future. Beyond the mid-century, climate projections highly depend on the scenario with either steady conditions compared to the near future (RCP2.6) or continuous decrease in snow reliability (RCP8.5). Under RCP8.5, our projections show that there would no longer be any snow-reliable ski resorts based on natural snow conditions in the French Alps and Pyrenees (France, Spain and Andorra) at the end of the century (2080–2100). For this time period and this scenario, only 24 resorts are projected to remain reliable with snowmaking, all being located in the Alps. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
P. Spandre H. François D. Verfaillie M. Pons M. Vernay M. Lafaysse E. George S. Morin |
author_facet |
P. Spandre H. François D. Verfaillie M. Pons M. Vernay M. Lafaysse E. George S. Morin |
author_sort |
P. Spandre |
title |
Winter tourism under climate change in the Pyrenees and the French Alps: relevance of snowmaking as a technical adaptation |
title_short |
Winter tourism under climate change in the Pyrenees and the French Alps: relevance of snowmaking as a technical adaptation |
title_full |
Winter tourism under climate change in the Pyrenees and the French Alps: relevance of snowmaking as a technical adaptation |
title_fullStr |
Winter tourism under climate change in the Pyrenees and the French Alps: relevance of snowmaking as a technical adaptation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Winter tourism under climate change in the Pyrenees and the French Alps: relevance of snowmaking as a technical adaptation |
title_sort |
winter tourism under climate change in the pyrenees and the french alps: relevance of snowmaking as a technical adaptation |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1325-2019 https://doaj.org/article/a607cc7ed5d44238af5693099e26d1c7 |
genre |
The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 13, Pp 1325-1347 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/1325/2019/tc-13-1325-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-13-1325-2019 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/a607cc7ed5d44238af5693099e26d1c7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1325-2019 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1325 |
op_container_end_page |
1347 |
_version_ |
1766216565948153856 |