Klimawandel

At the company site of PowderGuide partner GORE-TEX southeast of Munich, the sports-loving Gore workforce has to realize that climate change does not stop at leisure activities: Climate change does not stop at leisure activities. Cross-country skiing right on the doorstep is almost no longer possible and the ski touring season in the nearby Bavarian Alps is getting shorter and shorter.

Last week's heavy northerly thaw is long gone, but it was still quite wintry in the northern Alps until after last weekend. In the west, the sun came through a little earlier, while in the east it was rather cloudy up to and including Monday, with snow showers falling again and again, even at low altitudes. Since yesterday, however, there has definitely been a spring feeling everywhere with lots of sunshine and significantly higher temperatures.

Do you remember the old normal? Concerts, parties, days at the outdoor pool or standing in line for the elevator? Crowds of people? Crowds on the bus? The world before March 2020, when everything was suddenly closed. Everything was closed. Nothing worked anymore and we were at home? For a brief moment, we thought that it would only be like that in 2020. That everything would be fine again in the fall. That we would go on vacation again and go skiing at the weekends as usual.

This winter - and half of the last one - has been very special. But who am I telling? That's probably how the majority of our articles started. And yet I want to emphasize this once again. For whom has this strange situation not led to change? I can't imagine that there are many people around the world who haven't had to adapt at all as a result of the outbreak of this Covid-19 pandemic.

The weather is set to be changeable over the next few days, with not-so-bad snow options, especially from next week. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the crystal ball is not mistaken and maintains its current vision. Long-term visions for the future are unfortunately much less snowy, reports the ZAMG.

The last issue of this column dealt with the so-called planetary boundaries, which show how much change the system can tolerate in various areas and at what point it becomes critical. It is not only in the context of planetary boundaries that the discourse on environmental change is increasingly focusing on tipping points. What is behind the buzzword?

Last week, the WeatherBlog received the following user question: "How are weather patterns and global warming connected? Does the frequency of warm weather increase in times of global warming? Or has the frequency of different weather conditions remained the same, but they have all become warmer?"

There was a lively discussion about sustainability in winter sports and in general in response to our last Snow of Tomorrow post. The term "planetary boundaries" was frequently mentioned in the comments. That's why we want to use today's post to briefly explain this term and the theory behind it. Where do we as humans reach the limits of our planet? And what happens when we exceed these limits?

PG reader Hannes, like probably many of us, wants radical demands and radical solutions - what else could do justice to the huge problem of climate change? More and more drops on increasingly hot stones are not enough. He thinks that the sustainability trend in the outdoor industry in particular also involves a lot of self-deception.

A southerly foehn will end the cold, snowy winter weather phase in the northern Alps for the time being. The controlling low lies over the British Isles and, as is so often the case, warm air from the southwest will be brought to the Alpine arc. In the north, the next few days will be characterized by Föhn winds, in the south it will be cloudy with - depending on the altitude - liquid or solid accumulated precipitation.

Now that there is no longer a printed Downdays magazine, Downdays published the first "Ski Stories" book last season. The next one will follow for the 2020/2021 season! The new edition also comes as a high-quality hardback book with 160 pages and once again has an unusual concept.

There has still been little change to the large-scale constellation of high and low pressure centers. The Atlantic current is blocked by a strong high and its continental counterpart is located over Russia. The low-pressure complex that has been keeping us busy in the Alps for some time is neither advancing nor can it be replaced by new lows from the west.