Climate Corner: The future of skiing depends on us
Excerpt: So, as our climate continues to change, our skiing — and so much more — is at risk.
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As I’ve said before, weather is not climate, but they are related. The science proving how greenhouse gases trap heat and therefore increase overall global surface, atmospheric and ocean temperatures is pretty simple. It’s also pretty straightforward to assess how this leads to more complex system changes, such as storms holding and dispersing more moisture, droughts lasting longer and being hotter, hurricanes becoming stronger, and the intensity of increased winds fueling storms and wildfires.
More difficult to understand, though, is how the jet stream has shown climate-affected vulnerability. This year, the extremely chilly weeks in January and over the last couple of days were caused by a wobbly jet stream allowing arctic air to migrate south. This isn’t dramatically unusual, but the wobbly jet stream is happening more frequently. One main reason for this is the arctic polar jet stream rotates tightly when conditions in the arctic are cold, but the arctic land and sea temperatures have warmed. This slows the rotation because there is less of a difference between lower latitude and higher latitude temperatures, creating a jet stream that can split apart and wobble.
You might feel helpless learning about the Earth’s power and complicated systems when it comes to our global climate changing, but you’re not. We all have the power to live within a lifestyle based on the circular economy — all of our systems could be better: reducing, replacing and removing greenhouse gas emissions whenever and wherever possible. We need to prioritize this, every day — just like a health regimen.
Talk about this openly with friends, family, policymakers and business owners, and work collectively within the community and your networks. Tell your investment manager to prioritize climate investments. Donate your philanthropic dollars to organizations creating a circular economy. We may not be able to control the weather, but we can control how we live. By prioritizing a circular economy and supporting policies that reduce emissions, we can protect the experiences we love, like skiing, for generations to come.
Believe it or not, our best ski days to come will depend on it.
Jacquelyn Francis is executive director of Aspen-based Global Warming Mitigation Project.
