Alpine climate –
Drastic decline in snow in the Alps
The summits lost 34% of their snow between 1920 and 2020. Below 2000 meters, the southern Alps even recorded a drop of 50%.
Published today at 3:15 p.m.
The Col du Pacheu, in the Vaudois Alps in the Plans-sur-Bex region.
KEYSTONE/Anthony Anex
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Snowfall recorded a drastic decline in the Alps between 1920 and 2020, indicates a study coordinated by the Eurac research center based in Bolzano (I) and published on Tuesday. They have decreased by a third.
A marked decline has been observed since the 1980s. It coincides with “an equally clear increase in temperatures,” explains the author of the study, Michele Bozzoli. According to him, the trend in fresh snowfall in the Alps is “strongly negative”. We can speak of an overall decrease of 34%.
The strongest decline is recorded in regions below 2000 meters above sea level and on southern slopes, i.e. in Italy, Slovenia and parts of the Austrian Alps.
In the Northern Alps, Switzerland and Tyrol, altitude plays “a central role”. The decline reached 23%. In the southwestern part of the Alps, the decrease is 50%, according to this study published in the International Journal of Climatology.
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