Australian Ski Fields under threat

Now, I don't know about you guys, but this report from theage.com.au is frightening.

No Australian ski season by 2100.

"So what, Heresy Dude. That's 92 years." Or, "So what, that's just Australia."

Let's take a step back here. Firstly, this doesn't just affect the Australian snow season. The global environment is a closed system with a lot of positive feedback that doesn't respect borders.

Down here in Australia, we're pretty marginal already given the nature of our precipitation events, the temperature of precipitation and our generally low alpine elevations. We're not the only ones though. Switzerland, Austria, Germany and others are next in the gun barrel. I don't know about you, but I want to see my kids skiing and boarding and experiencing the miracle of snow-sliding.

I'm seeing more and more daily reports of this nature.

Ok, some think this is rubbish. It's a conspiracy. Or, just a natural warming period.
More and more organisations - industry and NGO and GO (NASA for instance) alike - say we're having a devastating effect.

I have two issues with the conspiracy/skeptic theory.

1. What if that theory is wrong? What if human-induced warming is a reality, and we do nothing? I'd much rather do something and be wrong. What's the worst that can happen then? Investment in solar, geo-thermal, clean nuclear. New jobs. Less carbon-pollution. Less cars on road. More trees planted to offset carbon from flights whilst chasing the snow. Hmmm, doesn't seem so bad.

2. See the graph below [1] - you can see clear increases in temperature, with accelerated gradients as we industrialise (I mean, REALLY industrialise). Seems pretty clear-cut to us at Heresy. C02 levels have a lag in the environment, meaning


Now, with all this, it's really easy to feel helpless, however, grassroots programs and support for change is growing. You've got Protect Our Winters, 1% For the Planet concentrating on snow, and many, many others, driving grassroots awareness of this issue. Here at Heresy, we've joined 1% For the Planet and continue to put our money where our mouth is (we're at 4% of sales to 1% FTP program so far) on this issue.

So. Where do you stand? What will you do.

Money where our mouth is: that's how we roll.

[1] Giss, NASA - http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs/