The impact of Climate Change on the future of the ski and the mountain industry: an analysis of the adaptation strategies and of the environmental impact of ski resorts

Climate projections for the European Alps during the 21st century foresee winters progressively characterized by higher temperatures and scarce precipitations, especially early in the season. The direct consequence on ski resorts of this climate alterations are issues with snow reliability and unfavorable conditions for snowmaking, which translate into a progressive reduction of season length. The winter tourism industry represents a critical portion of the GDP of Alpine regions and Nations: the loss of a ski resort would have a severe negative socio-economic impact on the surrounding region. Several mountainous communities heavily rely on the revenues generated directly or indirectly by the ski industry, which acts as an boosster for the local economy. The potential loss of this sector could lead to depopulation and abandonment of Alpine territories. Therefore, it is crucial to analyze in detail the challenges that Climate Change and Global Warming will pose to ski resorts in the future, with the purpose of better adapting and building resiliency to maintain operability of ski areas. Nonetheless, climate variations might be sufficiently impactful to put out of business overly exposed ski resorts which are either too small to have enough investment capacity or located in unfavorable geographical locations/excessively low elevations. Given this interdependence between the winter tourism industry and climate change, it is interesting to evaluate the contribution of ski resorts operations in terms of greenhouse gasses emissions, with the aim of better identifying the areas of potential improvements towards environmental sustainability. This study attempts to analyze and provide a descriptive picture of the current and future state of the winter tourism industry in the Western Italian Alps, based on the knowledge currently available in the scientific literature, on the emissions data collected as well as on the opinions and strategies deployed by ski resorts.