A study produced by an environmental group called Park City Green predicts that Utah may have no snow at all by the turn of the next century if climate change continues at its present rate.
Utah, which voted for Donald Trump to become US president, a man who has said climate change is a hoax and that no one really knows if it is real or not, hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics and is home to the largest ski area in the US at Park City. Known for its abundant light, dry powder snow, it has also trademarked the phrase, “The greatest snow on earth.”
According to Ski Utah, a marketing firm owned and operated by the 14 main ski resorts located in Utah, skiing contributes $1.29 billion to Utah’s economy and creates 20,000 jobs for the state.
The study by Park City Green predicts that the amount of total snowfall and snow coverage in Utah is set to decrease dramatically, possibly to nothing if things continue to warm up.
“Skiers and scientists will tell you the same thing: Utah is getting warmer, and it is getting drier. That means shorter winters and dramatic changes in the weather patterns that skiers in the West depend on for the unmatched snow conditions they enjoy,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, an advocate for the fight against climate change, told members of the Utah ski industry at a meeting last summer.
A separate study by climatologist Daniel Scott, a professor of global change at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, found that only 10 of the last 19 venues to host the Winter Olympics would be cold enough to do so again by 2050, with that number dropping to six by 2100.
“Utahns see the effects of climate change every winter and are doing impressive work to adapt to the changing conditions and reduce their industry’s carbon footprint,” said Sen. Whitehouse. “We need to continue to push leaders in Utah and Washington to follow their lead and act on climate.”
