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WMO partnership to highlight damaging impact of climate change on winter sports

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) announced on Thursday they are partnering to raise awareness about climate change’s harmful effects on winter sports and tourism.

The two organizations are joining forces to call attention to the extensive impacts of increasing global temperatures on snow and ice while producing measures to strengthen scientific and sports-related conversations.

The partnership is set to begin ahead of the 2024/2025 winter season and will initially last for five years.

‘The tip of the iceberg’

WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said climate change affecting winter sports and tourism is only “the tip of the iceberg” when it comes to impact.

“Retreating glaciers, reduced snow and ice cover and thawing permafrost are having a major impact on mountain ecosystems, communities and economies and will have increasingly serious repercussions at local, national and global level for centuries to come,” Ms. Saulo said.

Echoing this statement, FIS President Johan Eliasch said, “The climate crisis is obviously far bigger than FIS − or sports, for that matter: it is a genuine crossroads for mankind” but noted that the effects on sports are already evident.

Between 2023 and 2024, FIS had to cancel 26 of their 616 World Cup races due to weather.

“We would be remiss if we did not pursue every possible effort that is rooted in science and objective analysis,” Mr. Eliasch said.

Winter effects

Several studies have shown how climate change has affected winter sports and tourism, including one conducted in Switzerland that showed that Alpine glaciers have lost 60 per cent of their volume since 1850.

A separate study found that winters are increasingly becoming warmer and according to Swiss climate change studies, zero-degree levels will be reached much higher up the slopes – at around 1,300 to 1,500 meters above sea level by 2060. Fifty years ago, the freeze level stood at around 600 meters.

Every year, WMO and FIS will identify measures to be implemented, starting in a few weeks’ time on 7 November when they will host a webinar for national ski associations on the impact of global warming on the whole industry.

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