A man rides a bicycle in a park covered in snow on December 8, 2022, in Riga, Latvia. FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse
By AFP - Agence France Presse
Dreams of a white Christmas dashed as European winters warm-up
A white Christmas could increasingly become a nostalgic memory as the Northern Hemisphere sees fewer and fewer snowy winter days due to climate change, with Europe warming up faster, a report warned on Tuesday.
According to Climate Central, this decline in sub-zero days is driven mainly by humanity's mass burning of fossil fuels. It threatens tourism, the economy, and cultures.
Tuesday's report by the US-based research institute argues that man-made climate change has caused more than a third of the 123 countries and almost half of the 901 cities studied to lose the equivalent of at least one week of days below zero degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit in a decade.
The report's analysis is based on daily minimum temperatures covering the months of December to February - roughly the winter period in the Northern Hemisphere - from 2014 to 2023.
These minimums were then compared to a climate simulation without the warming effects of humanity's widespread use of coal, oil, and gas.
The study found that climate change has particularly increased the number of winter days above zero in Europe, the world's warmest continent.
Denmark and the Baltic States were the countries most affected.
“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 Kristina Dahl, vice president of science at Climate Central.
“The freezing days of winter are crucial for maintaining snow and ice for recreation and winter sports, replenishing the snow cover that supplies freshwater sources, and maintaining the life cycles of plants, animals, and insects,” added Dahl.
Cold weather helps control populations of disease-transmitting insects such as mosquitoes and ticks, while shorter winters stimulate the spread of pollen and, therefore, allergies.
The study also warned that warmer winters could also affect agriculture, especially the cultivation of fruits that require prolonged cold spells, such as apples and peaches.
jmi/sbk/bc
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