Parts of Europe have started the new year with record temperatures, forcing ski resorts to close due to melting snow.
The Northern Alps and French Pyrenees are said to be particularly struggling for any snowfall at all.
I grew up here in #Gstaad and learned skiing on this slope in the 70s. Back then scientists had evidence that fossil fuel causes warming. This is Jan 1, 2023.
Climate science is my profession, but this is where it gets personal.
When do we understand that we need to change? pic.twitter.com/sbYpGBhQiY— Reto Knutti (@Knutti_ETH) January 1, 2023
Parts of Germany and Spain have also seen unseasonably warm temperatures of 19 and 25 Celsius respectively.
Professor of Environmental Policy at University College Dublin and a member of the Climate Advisory Council, Dr Cara Augustenborg, says such high temperatures in January are unprecedented:
"This is the most extreme event ever seen in European climateology. This is really an unprecedented heatwave.
And it has implications in terms of food production, I mean our own farmers here know that a good frost is really important when it comes to pest control.
It has implications when it comes to water supply later on in the year in terms of snow melt. And obviously, it has shorter term consequences with respect to the skiing season and tourism in places like the Alps".
