Drastic decline: A third less snow in the Alps in a century

Tuesday 03rd December 2024 10:45 AM

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.

The Italian Alps are among the areas most affected by the retreat of snow. Here in Bressanone, in Trentino-Alto Adige (illustrative image).

ATS

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.