The Political Climate: an ongoing commentary on the NH Primary and Climate Change

The green slopes of New England reflect a world-wide warm temperature pattern that is delaying what should be the beginning to the 2006/2007 ski season.  This article in the Laconia Citizen Online reports that New England ski areas have almost solely switched over to artificially made snow in order to last the entire length of a traditional ski season.  This year, however, warm temperatures throughout the state have made for poor snowmaking conditions, forcing ski areas to push their opening day from Thanksgiving weekend to December. 

This is a problem that ranges from the White Mountains to the Alps to the Rockies.  This article in the New York Times reports that a month ago the season-opening race scheduled in Solden, Austria, the host of season-opener the past 6 years, was canceled due to the melting snow off the Rettenbach glacier.  Since then World Cup races scheduled around the world have been cancelled or postponed due to mild climates and lack of snow.  Atle Skaardal, overseer of the women’s portion of the tour for the International Ski Federation, says “it will very likely be a big crisis for us if we continue canceling races in December.”