Winter sports areas have a problem: due to global warming, glaciers are melting and mountains with thick layers of snow are becoming increasingly rare.
In the Alps, for example, temperatures are rising particularly quickly in a global comparison, now to around two degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.
The victims are the winter sports operators, who see their existence threatened, after all, their basis is disappearing - the snow.
But it is also the case that conventional winter sports are not necessarily climate-friendly.
To be precise, it is actually quite climate-intensive.
Electricity-guzzling squadrons of snow cannons, kilometers of lifts and millions of cars driving into remote valleys: all of this puts a strain on the climate and the environment - and thus seems quite out of date.
Holidays in ski resorts fuel global warming, which in turn melts the snow – a dilemma.
More and more winter sports operators are reacting to this and now want to position themselves more sustainably.
These include the SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser near Brixen im Thale in Austria.
There is, for example, a lift that runs on solar energy, is heated with waste heat and there is even a public transport connection.
But is that enough to make the winter sports area climate-friendly?
In this episode of »Climate Report«, our podcast on the climate crisis, we look at the future of winter sports.
And don't worry, we don't want to spoil your skiing holiday.
But we want to clarify two questions: How will we still be skiing in the future, with less snow and melting glaciers?
And what about the climate balance: can there be something like sustainability or a balanced ecological balance when skiing?
This time our guests are: Hansjörg Kogler and Rudi Köck, the managing directors of the SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser.
Curious? Then listen to our »climate report« now:
