Those who enjoy skiing may want to take note of a new environmental threat, melting snowcaps in the Alps, which may drastically reduce the amount of snow days that occur each year
According to research from the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research, the Alps are now warming at a rate that is more than three times the global average which has caused snow days to fall to their lowest yearly average in the last two decades. The Institute predicts that if the melting keeps up in fifty years any ski resort that is below 1,200m will not have enough snow to stay open.
In response, many ski resorts are going green by utilizing environmentally safe equipment such as the Val Thorens resort in France which uses hydroelectric energy to power its lifts. The resort has also planted around 200,000 trees over the last two decades.
Les Arcs which is also located in France, has also taken some steps to preserve nature such as banning cars from the resort area and burying all of its power cables. Additionally, the topsoil on the slopes is replaced with Alpine grass that reduces the amount of fake snow that needs to be produced.
The French resort is also trying to entice visitors for reasons outside of skiing such as paragliding, biking, hiking, and rock climbing in an effort to increase the versatility of the resort location.
Developers are also now looking at resorts by proposing new initiatives that will help sustain the environment so that the projects have a better long term outlook.
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