 Poster: A snowHead
|
Alpine skiing and snowboarding may be under greater threat from climate change than scientists have previously predicted. According to research by Christoph Marty at the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research in Davos, there was a dramatic step-like drop in the amount of snow falling in the Swiss Alps in the late 1980s. Since then, snowfall has never recovered, and in some years the amount that fell was 60 per cent lower than was typical in the early 1980s....Marty has analysed snowfall trends spanning 60 years and found that the average number of snow days over the last 20 winters is lower than at any time since records began more than 100 years ago.
Marty's analysis is the first to take in 10 years of new data from 34 stations between 200 and 1800 metres above sea level. His work is to be published in Geophysical Research Letters.
Source: http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/mg19826576.400-low-snowfall-puts-alpine-tourism-on-a-downhill-slide-.html
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
Perhaps this should read 'threat to snowfall in Davos, Switzerland from etc'.
Would like to read the original research not some alarmist soundbyte.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
| el Hen wrote: |
| Alpine skiing and snowboarding may be under greater threat from climate change than scientists have previously predicted |
The corollary of that statement is that they also may not be. In fact, the New Scientist article makes no such statement, and rather implies that nothing has changed since the late 1980s. I can't get to the original paper.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
Average snowfall in the Northern Hemisphere has definitely been declining since the 1970 / 1908s.
It's down by roughly 10% in the Alps and Northeast USA over the past decade, for example.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
Did this season really lack snowfall?
The general impression I get is not. Lack of snow through Feb and March perhaps but the start and the end dont seem to show a threat to skiing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Christopher, I think that the seasons in Europe seem to be getting later i.e they both start and finish later, what I think has decreased is the percentage of sub zero days during this time, this doesn't have a huge effect on ski conditions (though it does mean less couverage on rocky surfaces) but it does mean less build up of snow over the season which would I think explain the significant decreases in glaciers over the last 30 years or so
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
D G Orf, all very valid points.
I dont see skiing dissapearing anytime soon. I think the whole issue of global warming results in way too much scaremongering by the media and scientists and is blown out of proportion at times.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
| Quote: |
| there was a dramatic step-like drop in the amount of snow falling in the Swiss Alps in the late 1980s |
There was a step like change upwards in average UK temperature at the end of the 80s, a graph of the Central England Temperature averaged over the 70s till 1988 gives a near flat line, similarly a graph from 1989 onwards but at a higher level.
It so happens that 1988 to 1990 represented a shift in the dominant mode of the North Atlantic Oscillation to the warm - mostly positive - mode. This is a decadal phase shift and tends to last 10 to 20 years. We are due a shift to the cooler mode which has more frequent negative NAO conditions and possibly more important there is also a step change due in terms of the AMO (Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation) which is a longer term cycle driven by Thermoline Circulation. In terms of the UK both tie in to explain milder and relatively low snow periods earlier in the 20th Century.
Average climate cycles will not end because of AGW. In the Scottish Highlands year to year inter-annual variation is considerably greater than even the warming projected under the worst case scenario for 2080. Seasonal synoptic patterns will be the driver that determines good or poor winters and in some parts of the world synoptic patterns could be changed for the better.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
just another boring step from the nay-sayers towards making enjoying the mountains illegal/taxable/racist/etc
Any intelligent person able to compose their own thoughts without needing to read a newspaper will surely ignore.
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
WHAT!!!! - They've only just noticed there was way more snow in the seventies and early eighties.
This took a scientist to do a study !!!
Just ask anyone who has been skiing a long time !!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
