April 28, 2008
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/still_waiting_for_that_snowless_winter/
Three years ago, The Age seized on one poor snow season to whip up fears
of global warming - even as it denied doing just that:
ONE of the ski industry's pet dislikes is when comments about global
warming are made after a poor season - no single season can be put down
to climate change. That said, this year's winter was a prototype of what
we can expect. While 2004 was one of the best ski seasons in 20 years,
2005 suffered because of a record warm winter in south-eastern
Australia.
And it was bound to get worse, the experts said:
A 2003 CSIRO re****t, part-funded by the ski industry, found that the
resorts could lose a quarter of their snow in 15 years, and half by
2050. Modelling for 2020 and 2050 shows that the resort with the most
remaining snow will be Perisher, in NSW, followed in order by Falls
Creek, Mount Hotham, Thredbo and Mount Buller. The smaller resorts of
Mount Buffalo, Mount Baw Baw and Lake Mountain become marginal for
skiing at 2020, even in the most optimistic scenarios.
So five years on from that scary prediction, how are we doing? Did the
2005 season prove to be "a prototype" of the great melt in our alps?
From today's papers:
With the official start of the ski season still five weeks away, Mount
Hotham got the best of the winter-like weather, with its main runs
covered in snow. More than 15 centimetres of snow had also fallen at
Mount Buller by yesterday evening, and more light snow was expected.
So two of the resorts that the CSIRO predicted five years ago would lose
a quarter of their snow by 2018 are now covered in snow five weeks ahead
of the season. Oh, and the Great Barrier Reef still hasn't bleached
white, either.
Of course, one year's weather neither proves nor disproves a theory. But
it's as well to remember just that when the global warming alarmists
next seize on another bit of freak weather and cry panic. It may also be
a good idea if the CSIRO rechecks its 2003 calculations to let us know
if and how it went wrong.
Meanwhile in Alaska:
Anchorage continues to dig out from a snowfall that set a record for the
day and the month.
--
Warmest Regards
Bonzo
"America in Longest Warm Spell Since 1776; Temperature Line Records a
25-year Rise" New York Times, March 27, 1933
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