Algunos numeritos

Bueno hay cosas mas importantes que perder algunos sitios para esquiar, como que el desglaciamiento de los glaciares del Himalaya y los Andes afectara a millones de personas, pero aqui van algunos numeritos de como el calentamiento global esta afectado a la industria del esqui, algo con que llamar la atencion a los que pensaban a darse una vueltita por Aspen:

* Last year was the warmest in the continental United States in the past 112 years. The ten hottest years on record have all occurred since 1990. (National Climatic Data Center)

*In Aspen, winter starts 18 days later and ends 10 days earlier than it did fifty years ago. (City of Aspen Canary Institute)

*In New England, the average winter temperature has increased 4.4 degrees F over the last 30 years, and the snow season has decreased more than 15 days. (Union of Concerned Scientists, New Hampshire)

*In Utah's ski areas, temperatures are projected to rise 6 to 15 degrees F by the end of the century. This could mean no snow whatsoever on Park City's mountains (Stratus Consulting, 2007)

*In the Alps, warming has been about three times the global average and is threatening alpine ski resorts and local economies. (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development)

*Several World Cup races scheduled for November 2006 in Europe had to be cancelled because the weather was too warm for snow making (New York Times, November 2006)

*In Canada, not one of Toronto's natural ponds opened last winter for ice skating. As winter temperatures continue to rise, skating on natural ice may be a thing of the past. (Toronto Star, November, 2006)

*Global warming threatens the world's ski resorts, with melting at lower altitudes forcing the sport to move higher and higher up mountains. Downhill skiing could disappear altogether at some resorts as soon as 2030. (United Nations Environment Program report, December 2002)

*Global warming threatens future Winter Olympic Games. The most dramatic consequence of global warming to date is evident in the alpine regions of the world, where the best snows are often found near glaciers. Glaciers are melting at an alarming rate all over the world, and climate scientists estimate that half of the alpine glaciers could disappear in the next 100 years. (World Resources Institute)

Source: GlobalExchange