Climate change in Slovenia: Rising snow lines

Environment

16.01.2009

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Copenhagen 2009

Political will... or won´t
Carbon conscience
- Europe's satellite leads climate change study
Copenhagen atmosphere - the Euranet blog
Warming up?
- Climate change in Spain: Desertification
- The Consequences of Climate Change - the 2007 UN Report on Global Warming
- Climate change in the Netherlands: Flood protection
- Climate change in Cyprus: Battling drought
- Climate change in Slovenia: Rising snow lines

Each year, the city of Maribor hosts the world cup skiing event for women known as the Zlata lisica - the Golden Fox. The world's best skiers descend the ski slopes of Mount Pohorje, overlooking the town. Each year, thousands of visitors come to the city to watch the event. The Golden Fox is one of two world-class events held in the country and a source of pride for the city and country. But not every year.

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In 2006, an extraordinarily hot winter left organizers scrambling to keep snow on Pohorje. Despite the help of artificial generators, they failed. The International Ski Federation announced that the Golden Fox would have to be held someplace else. They settled on the Slovenian ski resort of Kranjska Gora. But as temperatures continue to climb, people are wondering about the Golden Fox's future in Maribor.

Slovenia's leading climatologist, Lucka Kajfež-Bogataj, believes that as temperatures rise, so will the snow lines. This will first and foremost hit Slovenia's low-lying ski resorts, like Maribor's Pohorje.

He says: "Maribor is particularly vulnerable because while a lot is invested into this ski resort, it lies at a very low altitude. Another problem the ski resort in Maribor faces is that when little snow falls and you are forced to use artificial snow you need a lot of water and cold temperatures. "

Unfortunately, Maribor's problems are shared by most of the rest of the country. Slovenia is an Alpine country with a long and proud tradition of skiing, but the vast majority of its resorts are below 1,400 meters. Kajfež-Bogataj calculates that, at this altitude, every increase in temperature by one degree centigrade pushes the snow line up 150 meters. He believes the future of Slovenia's ski resorts is looking bleak:

"Out of about 41 resorts, we only have 9 that will not have problems with climate change - at least in the coming decades. But the rest will face problems."

However, Slovenia's resorts have not shown any sign of giving up. Many of them are continuing to expand and upgrade their facilities. Better facilities attract more skiers but Aleš Uršic, president of Slovenia's association of ski chair lift operators, knows it is still critically dependent on fluctuations in weather:

"What makes a successful season is the weather. Right now things look solid - we have natural snow already. If the weather holds up then we expect a similar amount of visitors as last year."

This year things even look bright for the Pohorje resort. Snow fell on the mountains in the nick of time, giving them the green light to organize the Golden Fox ski event at the beginning of January. Organizers know, however, that the weather has a habit of being fickle, and that any sudden changes can be disruptive to the competition.

So although the weather forecast still looks ski- friendly this year, Prof. Kajfež-Bogataj warns that the long-term effects will be harder and harder to combat:

"Climate change will not happen overnight. But in terms of strategic thinking all these tourist areas should think about diversifying their activities. They should look into summer tourism, which will bloom in the coming decade."