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Global
warming 101
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Climate
change is a real threat to our environment and our economy
- and a big concern for all Australians who love snow sports
and to those who work in the alpine industry who count on
dependable snow for a living.
Global
warming happens when heat-trapping greenhouse gases collect
in the atmosphere - a bit like a down parka keeps body heat
from escaping into space. We need greenhouse gases, in fact
without them the Earth would be a frozen wasteland. The
problem is that things are getting out of balance.
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Nineteen
of the 20 hottest years on record have occurred since 1980, the
top 10 since 1990. Models developed by scientists predict temperature
increases faster than anything the world has ever seen in terms
of temperature change.
Scientists
have been studying the problem now for several decades. While
they still don't know every detail, nearly all agree that increases
in greenhouse gases is a major factor.
In 1988 the
World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Environment
Program established an 'Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change'.
This body produces regular reports dealing with the science of
climate change, with their most recent report, the Third Assessment
Report, released in 2001. This report was prepared and reviewed
by several hundred of the world's leading climate scientists.
Their findings include:
- Atmospheric
carbon dioxide is 30 per cent higher today than in pre-industrial
times and is higher than it has been for at least 420,000 years.
- The current
rate of increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide is unprecedented
in the last 20,000 years.
- Burning
fossil fuels is the main source of human-created carbon dioxide
emissions.
- The concentration
of many other greenhouse gasses has also increased significantly
since pre-industrial times, also as a result of human activities.
- The Earth's
global average surface temperature increased by 0.6 degrees
Centigrade over the course of the 20th century.
- Most of
the observed warming over the last 50 years is likely to have
been due to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations.
A Climatic
Research Unit established in the University of East Anglia in
the United Kingdom is widely recognised as one of the world's
leading institutions concerned with the study of natural and man-made
climate change. It has complied a demonstration site showing the
patterns of global temperature change across the world from 1900
to 2000. Visit the demonstration
site.
Even a few
degrees of global warming will have a significant impact on our
climate and within Australia we are already experiencing the effects
of climate change. A few degrees of global warming will lead to
more heat waves and fewer frosts. More fires and droughts are
expected in some regions and more rain and flooding in others.
Alpine areas are expected to have less snow cover, tropical cyclones
may become stronger and sea levels may rise. In Victoria, the
average maximum and minimum temperatures have increased in every
decade since 1950, with extreme rainfall events having increased
over the last century and El Nino drought events becoming more
frequent.
A partnership
was formed in 2002 between the Commonwealth, NSW and Victorian
government agencies, together with the Alpine Resorts Co-ordinating
Council and Australian Ski Areas Association, to fund a CSIRO
assessment and modelling of climate change impacts on snow conditions
in Australia. The CSIRO report, which was completed in 2003, recorded
a weak decline in maximum snow depths evident at three of the
four Australian alpine sites with 50 years' of data. The decline
in snow depths was thought to be the result of warmer temperatures
reducing the snow to rainfall ratio and increasing the snow melt
rate, with warming over the past 35 years appearing to be greater
at lower elevations.
The CSIRO
computed snow condition scenarios and made projections for each
Australian alpine resort. Predicted impacts included decreasing
average seasons and reductions of peak snow depths. The study
also considered snow making potential and concluded that with
sufficient investment in snow making, the Australian ski industry
will be able to manage the projected impact of climate change
until at least 2020.
The above
information has been sourced from the following sources, which
also provide a range of additional detailed information for those
interested:
· The Australian Greenhouse Office
· The Victorian Greenhouse Strategy
· The North American Keep Winter Cool
· The Victorian Alpine Resorts 2020 Strategy
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