Australian Alps will face largest loss of snow by end of century: Study

London: Global heating will melt snow cover in the Australian Alps much faster than it will happen in six other skiing regions, The Guardian reported citing a research.

The study published today by researchers at Germany’s University of Bayreuth predicts that snow cover over Australian Alps will decline by 78 per cent by the end of the century.

It is also warned that 13% of ski areas across the globe may lose all snow cover in future to high emissions.

‘Within this century, ongoing climate change will globally lead to a substantial reduction in annual snow cover days in current ski areas under all emissions scenarios,’ the study reportedly said.

The study predicts more ski areas to be completely denuded of snow in the future.

Seven major mountainous skiing regions were the focus of the study.

The skiing regions to face the damage include the European Alps, Andes, Appalachian Mountains, Australian Alps, Japanese Alps, Southern Alps, and Rocky Mountains.

Australia’s snow cover decline at 78 percent is by far the highest to affect any other major skiing regions.

The study puts snow cover declines in the European Alps at 42%, Japanese Alps at 50% and Southern Alps of New Zealand at 51%.

The study predicted that global warming could affect more ski areas sitting in highly populated places.

The snow cover decline could affect the economic profitability of ski resorts around the globe.

The study said that artificial snow making “will presumably not be a sufficient compensation measure under a severe climate change scenario”.