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The vulnerability of Pyrenean ski resorts to climate-induced changes in the snowpack

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  • Marc Pons
  • Juan López-Moreno
  • Martí Rosas-Casals
  • Èric Jover

Abstract

Winter tourism is the main source of income and the driving force of local development in many mountain areas. However, in recent years, the industry has been identified as being extremely vulnerable to future climate change. Although the Pyrenees has the largest ski area in Europe after the Alps, there are few detailed climate change vulnerability assessments on the ski resorts based in this region. This paper analyzes the vulnerability of the Pyrenean ski resorts to projected changes in the snowpack under various future climate scenarios. In addition, the study analyzes the sustainability of the snowmaking systems to offset the climate variability of natural snow cover. On average, the study predicts a shorter ski-season length, especially in low-altitude ski resorts in a moderate climate change scenario and for all ski resorts in a more intensive climate change scenario. However, a significant regional variability has been identified for the projected impacts at very short geographical distances within the studied area. Moreover, this paper shows that snowmaking cannot completely solve the problem for all ski resorts in the Pyrenees, as the measure can only act as a robust adaptation strategy in the region provided climate change is limited to +2 °C snowmaking. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Marc Pons & Juan López-Moreno & Martí Rosas-Casals & Èric Jover, 2015. "The vulnerability of Pyrenean ski resorts to climate-induced changes in the snowpack," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 131(4), pages 591-605, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:131:y:2015:i:4:p:591-605
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-015-1400-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. J. Hendrikx & C. Zammit & E. Hreinsson & S. Becken, 2013. "A comparative assessment of the potential impact of climate change on the ski industry in New Zealand and Australia," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 119(3), pages 965-978, August.
    2. Jamie Sanderson & Sardar M. N. Islam, 2007. "Climate Change and Economic Development," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-59012-0.
    3. Daniel Scott & Geoff McBoyle, 2007. "Climate change adaptation in the ski industry," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 12(8), pages 1411-1431, October.
    4. T. P. Barnett & J. C. Adam & D. P. Lettenmaier, 2005. "Potential impacts of a warming climate on water availability in snow-dominated regions," Nature, Nature, vol. 438(7066), pages 303-309, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. José Luis Ruiz-Real & Juan Uribe-Toril & Jaime De Pablo Valenciano & José Ramos Pires Manso, 2019. "Ibero-American Research on Local Development. An Analysis of Its Evolution and New Trends," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-16, July.
    2. Jianping Yang & Yanxia Wang & Fan Tang & Xinyu Guo & Hongju Chen & Guangxi Ding, 2023. "Ice-and-snow tourism in China: trends and influencing factors," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Aurélie Corne & Olga Goncalves & Nicolas Peypoch, 2020. "Evaluating the performance drivers of French ski resorts: A hierarchical approach," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(3), pages 389-405, April.
    4. Daniel Moscovici, 2022. "Ski Resort Closures and Opportunities for Sustainability in North America," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-17, March.
    5. Geoffrey Klein & Yann Vitasse & Christian Rixen & Christoph Marty & Martine Rebetez, 2016. "Shorter snow cover duration since 1970 in the Swiss Alps due to earlier snowmelt more than to later snow onset," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 139(3), pages 637-649, December.
    6. Martin Falk & Eva Hagsten, 2017. "Climate change threats to one of the world’s largest cross-country skiing races," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 59-71, July.

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