bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Once deep in powder this time of year, Chile’s ski stations are fighting the ravages of climate change and pollution that have brought less and less snow to the central Andes.
Just a few decades ago, the Andes mountain range could be buried under four metres of snow, forcing the closure of access roads and requiring the use of tractors to get around.
But this year, it’s snowed only three times in the Chilean Andes, and never more than 30 centimetres.
It’s not just Chile affected, but the whole of the Andes where the area of snow cover in the central zone has diminished by 5 to 10 per cent each decade, according to Raul Cordero, an academic at the University of Santiago.


“But it’s not just snow cover that’s decreasing, the thickness of the snow cover is also reducing,” he said.
“So when we talk about a decrease of the cover of 5 to 10 per cent, this probably signifies a much greater reduction in the volume of available snow over the Andes.”
Rising temperatures mean the snow line – above which snow never melts all year round – keeps creeping upwards.
The snow melt is even more pronounced in the central zone because of pollution from the Chilean capital, one of the most contaminated urban areas in the region.

A recent study led by Cordero found that soot, or black carbon, from Santiago was settling in the Andes and accelerating the snow melt.
As it’s black, it absorbs more solar radiation and heats up quicker.
“When this pollution is over the cities it poisons people and when the wind blows, this pollution goes and is deposited on the mountains and contributes to the snow melt,” said Cordero.
The upshot is that Chile’s ski stations have had a difficult season.

But thanks to the snow cannons, the erection of fences and a tailored piste management policy, the resorts have managed to stay open throughout a winter in which there has been almost no snow.
“All the ski centres in the central zone are without natural snow. However, thanks to the fabrication of snow we’ve been able to keep open pistes that without this fabrication would not have been able to stay open,” said Fernando Montenegro, the operations director at Andacor, which operates the El Colorado and Parque Farellones ski stations.
El Colorado is 50 kilometres from Santiago and sits at 2,800 metres above sea level. It pumps out snow whenever the conditions allow it.
Low temperatures and high humidity are what is needed for the snow cannons to chug into gear and churn out snowflakes from water.

This technology has been around since 1994, but it has never before been in use as much as it is now – and even then the ski station is only operating at 70 per cent capacity.
But even if the situation gets worse, the ski stations will manage, according to Montenegro.
“There’s no risk. However, we need to manage the snow and manage the water in the mountain range in a good way.”
El Colorado has already invested almost US$4 million in buying snow cannons and hopes to increase that to US$10 million over the coming years.

Last weekend, some 7,000 people descended on El Colorado where ski and snowboard national teams come to train – they are not necessarily happy, though.
“If there’s not enough snow, there’s not as many hills. We don’t get the variety, we don’t get steepness, (or) different slopes: it’s so important for us to have that variety,” Megan Farrell, a member of the Canadian snowboard team, said.
Amateur skiers also noticed the difference from previous years.
“You can see that the snow is harder. It’s not very deep, there are a lot of stones and snow made by the cannons, which makes it feel like you’re skiing on a different type of snow,” said Chilean Rado Milosevic, 24.


Venezuela approves amnesty law that could free hundreds of political prisoners

Peru Congress picks country’s eighth president in a decade

Top US commander makes surprise visit to Venezuela weeks after Maduro capture

11 killed in US strikes on 3 more alleged drug boats

Americas and the Caribbean

Not so Chile: rising temperatures force country’s ski slopes to use fake snow

A technician checks a cannon spraying artificial snow at El Colorado ski centre in the Andes Mountains. Photo: AFP

Snow cannons spray artifical snow on a ski slope at El Colorado skiing centre, in the Andes Mountains, some 30 km from Santiago on August 8, 2019. - Santiago's skiing centers are using artificial snow to save a difficult tourist season due to low snowfall in the driest winter in Chile in six decades. (Photo by Martin BERNETTI / AFP)

View of an empty cableway at El Colorado skiing centre, in the Andes Mountains, some 30 km from Santiago on on August 8, 2019. - Santiago's skiing centers are using artificial snow to save a difficult tourist season due to low snowfall in the driest winter in Chile in six decades. (Photo by MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP)

Aerial view of a ski slope without snow at Farellones skiing center, in the Andes Mountains, some 30 km from Santiago on August 8, 2019. - Santiago's skiing centers are using artificial snow to save a difficult tourist season due to low snowfall in the driest winter in Chile in six decades. (Photo by MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP)

Climate change and Chinese tourists – Russia’s Lake Baikal faces twin existential threats

Lake Baikal, the world’s largest freshwater lake by volume, located in southern Siberia, faces a number of threats, including overtourism and climate change. Photo: Shutterstock

Despite suffering a downturn in Chinese arrivals, 15,000 additional hotel rooms are expected to open on the Thai island of Phuket over the next five years, which could prove bad for business and the environment. Photo: Shutterstock

A handout picture taken on September 20, 2015 and provided by Oleg Timoshkin, biologist at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Limnological Institute in Irkutsk, shows Spirogyra algae in the waters of Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal is undergoing its gravest crisis in recent history, experts say, as the government bans the catching of a signature fish that has lived in the world's deepest lake for centuries but is now under threat. / AFP PHOTO / Russian Academy of Sciences' Limnological Institute / Oleg TIMOSHKIN / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Russian Academy of Sciences' Limnological Institute in Irkutsk / Oleg Timoshkin" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Traditional wooden buildings in Listvyanka, also known as the Baikal Riviera, a resort town on the edge of the lake. Photo: Shutterstock

The route between Hong Kong and Taiwan's capital Taipei is the second busiest in the world, according to a recent IATA report, with 28,447 flights annually. Photo: Shutterstock

Pollution in skies over Hong Kong hits seven-year high, despite government report saying emissions in decline

Hong Kong Island is obscured by haze during a high-pollution day in the city. Photo: SCMP

The exhaust emitted from local ferries is blamed for worsening air pollution. Pictured is a First Ferry from Central to Cheung Chau. 25AUG09

Thick snow and huge hailstones in the UK as ‘crazy’ weather hits northern England

Snowy conditions in Blairingone, Scotland. Photo: AP

Snowy conditions in Blairingone, Fife, Sunday March 10, 2019, as parts of Britain are waking up to snow, with gales set to batter the country through the day. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)

A man clears snow from the steps at the Tan Hill pub in North Yorkshire, England, Monday, March 11, 2019. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

China’s fake news problem scales new heights with a load of rubbish about Mount Everest

A sherpa collects rubbish left on Mount Everest in a truer reflection of the situation. Photo: AFP

=== PHOTO CAPTURED FROM WEIBO ===

A report exaggerating pollution on the Mount Everest with fake images has become viral on Chinese social media since Chinese authorities confirmed the north base camp of the worldÕs highest peak would be closed to all tourists for ecological concerns last week.ÊThe report, which first appeared on a public account on social media platform WeChat early last week, used a number of photos irrelevant to the Everest and made false conclusions such as visitors left 12 tonnes of excrement there each year, triggering opposition from various mountaineers, thecover.cn reported.Ê

 Photo: WEIBO.

News

World

Americas


Up to four metres of snow used to fall on the mountains that make up the Chilean Andes, but this year it has only snowed three times
Snow melt is even more pronounced in the mountain range’s central zone because of pollution from the country’s capital



Up to four metres of snow used to fall on the mountains that make up the Chilean Andes, but this year it’s only snowed three times – and never more than 30 centimetres.


Climate change

Environment

Energy