White Christmas under threat: How climate change affects winter tourism

A white Christmas may increasingly become a nostalgic memory as the northern hemisphere sees fewer snowy winter days due to climate change and Europe warms faster, a report warned on Tuesday. According to Climate Central, primarily due to humanity’s massive burning of fossil fuels, a decrease in the number of days below zero threatens tourism, the economy and culture.

Climate change is reducing frosty days

A report on Tuesday from a US research institute said man-made climate change has caused more than a third of the 123 countries and nearly half of the 901 cities studied to lose the equivalent of at least a week’s worth of sub-zero days. Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit for more than a decade.

The report’s analysis is based on daily minimum temperatures covering the months of December through February — roughly the length of the Northern Hemisphere’s winter — from 2014 to 2023. These lows were then compared to climate simulations without the warming effects of humanity’s extensive use of coal, oil, and gas. Climate change was found to have particularly increased the number of winter days above freezing in Europe, the world’s fastest-warming continent. Denmark and the Baltic countries suffered the most.

How disappearing winters threaten ecosystems

“The snow, ice and cold temperatures that used to be hallmarks of the winter season are rapidly disappearing in many places, threatening ecosystems, economies and cultural traditions,” said Climate Central Vice President for Science Christina Dahl. “Frozen winter days are critical to maintaining snow and ice for winter recreation and sports, replenishing the snowpack that provides freshwater sources, and maintaining the life cycles of plants, animals and insects,” Dahl added.

Colder weather helps control populations of disease-carrying insects like mosquitoes and ticks, while shorter winters help spread pollen — and thus allergies. The study also warns that hotter winters could also affect agriculture, especially fruit growing that requires long cool spells, such as apples and peaches.