Europe's ski resorts at risk from global warming
Delegates at an environmental conference have been told that alpine ski resorts across Europe may be at risk from catastrophic landslides caused by global warming.
According to the Guardian newspaper, some of Europe's most famous ski resorts may be destroyed by landslides when the permafrost which holds the pistes together melts.
Temperatures in many ski resorts have risen by a degree over the last 15 years bringing a danger of rock falls, landslides and floods.
The worrying consequences of global warming were highlighted at the Royal Geographical Society's annual conference in Plymouth.
The conference heard that Europe-wide monitoring of permafrost on alpine mountains was launched by the EU to try and predict when disastrous landslides could occur.
The conference was also told that areas from as far south as the Sierra Nevada in southern Spain to the highest peaks of northern Scandinavia had all been affected by global warming.
Dr Charles Harris of Cardiff University, who carried out the study, says the main areas of risk are the Alps in Switzerland, Austria, France, Germany and Italy.
He said: "A borehole sunk above St Moritz 15 years ago shows the temperature of the ground has risen half a degree to one degree in that time.
"If the temperature inside the mountain is only minus two Celsius at the moment then it will not take long to defrost.
"The combination of ground temperatures only slightly below zero, high ice contents and steep slopes, makes mountain permafrost particularly vulnerable to changes."
