France’s National Center for Meteorological Research has been measuring air temperature and snow depth at its research station at an altitude of 1,325 meters outside Grenoble since the 1960s. They can state that the snow depth has decreased at the measurement site by four decimetres on average compared to the decades between the 60s and 90s.
– It is a huge loss. It has very big consequences for, for example, the availability of water to run a ski resort, says Marie Dumont, director of the snow research centre, in Vetenskapen värl: Snow’s superpowers.
Many ski resorts affected
France has one of the largest alpine sports areas in the world, with more than 350 ski resorts. But more and more facilities are forced to shut down due to lack of snow, especially those located at an altitude of 1,000 to 2,000 meters. The Col de l’Arzelier ski resort had nine runs and six lifts and the highest point was 1,150 meters above sea level. In 2018, the facility was closed. The lack of snow was the final straw for the business, which had been running for just over 50 years.
Over a hundred similar abandoned ski resorts are scattered across the French Alps.
See the entire World of Science: The Superpowers of Snow at SVT Play or in SVT2 on Monday 15 January at 20:00.