Italy, therapeutic fury to save skiing:more public money for artificial snow

If there is a sector in which the impact of climate change is visible to the naked eye, it is that of ski areas, in which the "raw material", i.e. natural snow, is increasingly scarce, almost to the point of disappearing as the altitude drops.To try to smooth out the effects of a structural problem that evidently cannot be cured at the root, the Italian government - according to the usual logic of "aid packages" and "special funds" - continues to provide funds to private individuals in difficulty For new artificial snow systems.The executive has in fact already allocated well for this purpose 147 million of euros, in particular for the construction of water supply tanks, for the renovation of cableways and for the construction of large piles of technical snow, useful for starting the winter season early.And, while strategies for serious sustainable tourism clearly take a backseat to others 200 million non-refundable are already on the plate.A technique that brings with it not only heavy disadvantages from an economic point of view, but also serious environmental consequences in the long run.

The promotion of "tourist attractiveness" in mountain areas and ski resorts through "the implementation of renovation, modernization and maintenance of cable ski lifts and artificial snow systems" is object interministerial decree n.7297 of 11 April 2023, linked to last year's maneuver, which the Meloni government is progressively implementing.The law specifically provides for an outlay of 200 million euros for the 2023-2026 phase (50 million euros are already ready for Lombardy, over 25 for Piedmont), mostly for plants located in less than 2 thousand meters high.Places where the amount of snow has drastically decreased in recent years.For policies on sustainable tourism, which sees among its objectives the strengthening of major cultural destinations through the reduction of emissions and support for accommodation facilities and tourism businesses in activities useful for obtaining sustainability certifications, the government has instead allocated crumbs: only 25 million in total.And if, on the one hand, public money is needed to keep the sector going, on the other the only way to artificially snow the mountains is to use enormous quantities of water, which is always taken from streams, rivers, springs or from the water network drinking.In fact, to cover one hectare of slope, where there is already a natural snow base, approximately thousand cubic meters of water and between 2 thousand and 7 thousand kilowatt hours.All this without considering the important environmental repercussions of these operations, with the physiological damage to mountain flora and fauna and a further rise in temperatures.But it is not only the centre-right government that is moving in this direction:at the end of December, in fact, the Emilia-Romagna region - led by the dem Stefano Bonaccini - allocated over 4 and a half million refreshments for companies that have control of low-altitude ropeways following last winter's lack of rainfall.

In short, what we are experiencing are exceptional winters compared to the past, which however seem destined to become customary as intrinsically linked to global warming.The criticality of the situation had already been highlighted in 2007 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which, on the basis of the scientific evidence available at the time, highlighted the strong uncertainties about the future of winter tourism due to the already significant reduction in snow cover, framing climate change as "a serious challenge for social and economic development".Of the total ski resorts present on the Peninsula, it is now approximately ninety percent to be covered in artificial snow due to increasingly higher temperatures.To this end, approximately 95 million cubic meters of water are used every year and a cost of 136 thousand euros per hectare of track.And as you try to patch the hole by groping around, it continues to widen.

[Stefano Baudino]