Global Warming Forces Closure of Ski Resort in French Alps

Abondance is a small town in in the French Alps. It has a population of only about 1,300. For more than 40 years the main source of income for those people has been the tourist trade - from its ski area. Now, though, they'll be looking for alternatives - because the ski area is closing, due mainly to a lack of snow.

Abondance is situated at an altitude of 3,000 feet above sea level, which makes it a "mid-altitude" resort. Unfortunately, these kinds of resorts are experiencing more of the effects of global warming than those at higher elevations. In fact, Transmontagne, a company that runs several mid-altitude ski areas in Europe, is now in bankruptcy. Its financial problems, like those of Abondance, are mostly due to warmer weather, which is affecting both the amount of snow and the length of the ski season - both of which in turn affect visitor counts and, ultimately, revenue.

The average temperature in the French Alps is going up. It's a difference of only a couple of degrees, but that's enough to speed up the melting of the snow cover and shorten the ski season by as much as a month. And as the snow cover recedes, the least successful resorts will be those at lower elevations - and not just in Europe. The effect will eventually be noticed in other countries with lower-altitude resorts, like Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, and even some parts of the United States - where it's been estimated that the average temperature could rise as much as 15 degrees by the end of the 21st century.