Climate change and snow tourism in Australia

[摘要] This paper examines impacts of climate change as outlinedby the Intergovernmental Panel of ClimateChange (IPCQ on the snow-reliability ofthe Australianski fields. It is shown that with a «best case» climatescenario for the Australian Alps, all but one resort (MtBaw Baw) would have at least 60 days of natural snowcoverin 2030 and would therefore still be snow-reliable.With a «worst case» scenario in 2070 on the otherhand, none of Australia's current ski resorts would beable to operate a profitable ski industry. Possible adaptation strategies of the ski industry to climate change aresuggested. It is demonstrated that the more technical adaptation strategies such as snow-making, super-grooming,and snow-farming are well-developed in Australia,while clearly not enough has been done in both the development of non-snow related activities in winter andan enhanced all-season Visitation. This paper thereforeargues that Australian ski resorts need to diversify morethan they do today or they will ultimately close due tothe negative effects of climate change.

[学科分类] 自然科学（综合）