Climate change and alpine mountain resorts: impacts and adaptation strategies

Abstract

Mountain resorts today shape the economy of the territories that support them. However, global change and particularly the reduction in snow cover linked to climate change questions their future and confronts them with the need to adapt. As a result, the resorts and their stakeholders are implementing two major types of strategies: on the one hand increasing the reliability of ski areas in order to reduce their vulnerability and thus strengthen their viability, and on the other hand diversifying tourism towards a model less dependent on snow resources alone. This contribution proposes an inventory of the work and research carried out on these issues, both in France and internationally.