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Impacts of Climate Change on Australian Alps' Ski Industry

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Impacts of Climate Change on Australian Alps’ Ski Industry

The changing nature of snow cover as a result of climate change is a modern phenomenon that climate scientists are beginning to understand. The negative impact of climate change on snow cover has serious implications for the Australian alpine ski industry, in particular the longevity of the industry. This essay discusses the impacts of climate change on snow cover and the alpine landscape, social attitudes, changes in the ski industry’s economy, as well challenges and adaptations facing the ski industry. The essay highlights the danger of short-term solutions resulting in permanent damage to our environment.

The ski industry comprises of ten operational ski resorts (Figure 1) (NIER, 2006) worth over A$906 million. Yet, only “0.15% of the total continent” (Pickering, 2009) regularly receives snow as a result of low attitude mountains. Consequently, the limited area of snow is not the only limiting agent to skiing seasons with growing concerns of climate change.

Impact of climate change on snow cover
Australia’s ski industry is significant challenged by the effects climate change on snow cover. Declining of snow cover, amongst numerous issues (Figure 1), limits the growth of the ski industry. Snow cover is based on the concept of accumulation and ablation (Thompson, 2012). The drivers of snow accumulating and ablation are solar radiation and warmer temperatures from climate change. Increased temperature results in

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