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New
piste at Verdons. Improvements to Les Arolles piste. Plantrey Snow Park
moved to the Dunes & Canyons zone on Verdons.
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Inconsistent piste
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Global warming & glacial retreat
>> Skiing
and the environmental issues
>> Sustained
development in the 3 Vallees
It has been well documented that following a cycle of hot summers and mild winters, European glaciers are slowly retreating. Whether this is a result of predictable climate trend or increased human impact on global climate remains to be seen.
How do glaciers react to climate change?
The volume of ice in a glacier, its corresponding surface area, its thickness, and its length are determined by the balance between inputs (accumulation of snow and ice) and outputs (melting and calving). As climate changes, the balance between these inputs and outputs can be disrupted ultimately affecting the thickness and advancement, or retreat of the glacier. Temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind speed and other key factors such as the slope gradient and the reflectivity of the glacier surface all further affect the balance between inputs and outputs. Most glaciers in the world are more sensitive to temperature than to other climatic factors. Many ski resorts are now suffering from glacial melting including; Tignes, Chamonix, Les deux Alpes and Alpe D'Huez.
Glacial Shrinkage
Sustained periods of warm temperatures in both the summer and winter seasons are currently affecting the thickness and advancement of the worlds glaciers. As global warming leads to insufficient snow falls (as wamer temperatures means it now falls as rain), glaciers that would normally grow are now finding that there is insufficient snow to replace the melt process.
Whilst discussing climate change and the impact on glaciers, scientists from the University of Zurich recently argued that if current temperatures increase overall by between two and five degrees, the European Alps could see some eighty per cent of glacial cover being lost by the end of the 21st century.
Over the past few years, warmer summer and winter temperatures in the French and Swiss Alps have impacted on the length and duration of snowfall during the seasons. Several glacial ski resorts have reported that they are suffering from significant glacial melting which has potentially been caused by these temperature variations experienced in recent years. Of these ski resorts: Tignes, Les 2 Alpes, Alpe d’Huez and Courchevel have all expressed varying amounts of glacier shrinkage however the visual evidence and impact in some mountain resorts is more evident than others.
It has been reported that there has been twenty metres of shrinkage in the glacier at the foot of the Signal piste in Alpe d'Huez (2800 metres) over the past twenty years, with the most noticable progession during the last five. Until the summer of 2006 there had not been an huge impact on the summer skiing with the Alpe dÎHuez glacier opening, however, the position has recently changed. Although the winter season of 2005/06 recorded good snow levels, there was not enough sufficient enough to stop the glacier retreating. Didier Richard, a glacier specialist with the CEMAGREF in Grenoble (an agricultural and environmental engineering facility), commented recently that the Alpe d’Huez glacier will ’without doubt have disappeared by 2050!’
In addition to the weather patterns, resort latitude and orientation also play key roles in glacial creation and stability. There are some European glaciers that have lost glacial mass at a faster rate than others and these additional contributing factors could be to blame. Swiss and Austrian resorts have noted a marked change in their glacier retreat since the early 1980s. Studies on this subject indicate that these glaciers have lost almost a fifth of their total area since 1985, this rate is seven times faster than the previous 123 years.
Probably one of the most visual example of 'Glacier Meltdown' is in Chamonix, France (pic right). Chamonix is home to some of the most well known glaciers namely, Mer de Glace (sea of ice), Glacier d'Argentiere and the Glacier des Bossons. All are pretty spectacular pieces of scenery however, statistics clearly show all have been steadily receding since the early part of this century. Take for example the Glacier des Bossons. A hot, dry summer during 1995 saw 'glacier melt' accelerate significantly, loosing some twenty meters in length and volume.
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| Glacier
des Bosson in 1928 |
Glacier
des Bosson in 1952 |
Glacier
des Bosson in 1983 |
Glacier
des Bosson in 1995 |
Whilst this was worrying, the 1995 receding position of the glacier was actually comparable to that of 1952, where a natural period of glacial regression created a similar effect. Christian Vincent of the Glacial & Geological Environmental Laboratory in Grenoble has been studying the effects of the worldwide climate change and specifically notes the impact on the Alps. In the past 150 years the Alps have seen glaciers retreating by some 30%, with a marked acceleration since the early 1980s. He has however previously commented that some of the glacier retreat scenarios put forward by so called 'experts' have been 'largely overestimated', also saying that glacier retreat is not a good indicator of global warming because it depends on various factors. He suggests that losses from French glaciers can be accounted for by a 0.75C rise in average temperatures.
Under a constant climate, when a glacier melts its surface reduces. The front of the glacier retreats gaining alititude until it reaches a balance point where it can once again begin to develop. The Glacier des Bosson may well be experiencing a period of regression and might reach the balance point where it can begin to redevelop. Curiously, at the start of this century religious processions were organised in an attempt to to push back this glacier because it threatened the village of Chamonix.
Glaciers rely on snowfall whether in summer or winter and staff in resorts work hard to preserve snow during the winter but weather and resort latitude are key factors in glacial creation and stability. For example, the Sarannes mass located below Alpe dÎHuez in the Southern Alps appears to be suffering greatest from glacial recession in comparison to glaciers found in the Northern Alps. High global temperatures have seen the glacier in Sarannes mass recede significantly over the past few years. There remains a small glacier about a square kilometre, and 70 metres in depth, at an altitude of 2800 - 3200 metres, not too disimilar in height to the Grand Mott (3456m at the highest point). The last two decades has seen this area be the victim of some of the poorest winter snowfalls. December 1988 and 1989 saw a distinct lack of snow in the area which in addition to affecting the glacier development, created hugh problems for those replying on the snow for income. It is anticipated that this glacier will have disappeared by 2050.
The imposing questions that arise from much of the above feature are; 'is global warming responsible, if so, how long will the planetary warming continue or even accelerate', and 'what price will our glaciers pay during this acceleration?' As many alpine resorts depend on the winter and its seasoned activities to bring them income, it is becoming more important for them to broaden their activities in preparation for these changes future climate conditions may bring.