12. Environmental Dialogue – Snow was yesterday – Climate change in the Alps
Climate change in the Alps: a topic that concerns people in Austria. On October 8, over 200 guests attended the 12th edition of the discussion forum “Umwelt im Gespräch” (Environmental Dialogue) in the dome hall of the Natural History Museum Vienna (NHM) to learn about and discuss the consequences of climate change in the Alps.
Joining in on the discussion with the audience were glaciologist and climate researcher Georg Kaser (University of Innsbruck), Doris Hallama, Vice President for Huts and Trails at the Austrian Alpine Club, economic sociologist Valentina Ausserladscheider, and biodiversity researcher Stefan Dullinger (both ECH, University of Vienna). Georg Kaser gave the keynote on the topic “Climate change is here – what next?” NHM Director General Katrin Vohland opened the event, followed by speeches from the Vice Rector of the University of Vienna, Manuela Baccarini, and ECH Co-Director Thilo Hofmann.
Against complacency in thinking, speaking, and acting
“When it comes to climate change, it is important to talk with each other rather than about each other,” stated Katrin Vohland, Director General of the NHM, in her opening speech. Dialogue with the public must always be kept active. This is particularly crucial in light of the recent election results in Austria, “especially at a time when the party that refuses to remain engaged in the climate change debate has been successful,” she explained.
Vohland emphasized that formats such as “Environmental Dialogue” should not only raise awareness of problems, but also discuss possible solutions, with all their challenges and implications. “Fatalism would only paralyze us,” she said, urging people to leave their comfort zones. Comfortable thinking, speaking, and acting are out of place in the face of the major challenges posed by climate change.
Interdisciplinary Research as the key
Manuela Baccarini, Vice Rector for Research and International Affairs at the University of Vienna, emphasized the significant changes that climate change is causing in the Alps as a high mountain region. “It is changing the Alps as an ecosystem, landscape, recreational area, and economic factor,” she explained. Climate change in the Alps is a prime example of the complex challenges facing society. The University of Vienna is aware of these challenges and is researching the effects of climate change from different perspectives.
“Interdisciplinary research is the key to tackling such complex problems,” emphasized Baccarini, “research such as that conducted by the University of Vienna's Environment and Climate Research Hub.” Only through a deep understanding of the changes currently taking place and their causes is it possible to assess future developments and take targeted measures to counteract them.
Challenges and prospects...
Thilo Hofmann, co-director of the Environment and Climate Research Hub (ECH), opened the evening with a compelling look at the state of the Alps and the far-reaching consequences of climate change. It is not just about snow or melting glaciers; the challenges posed by climate change are even more comprehensive. “The thawing of permafrost, rising sea levels, and biodiversity loss are further pressing problems,” said Hofmann.
The evening should therefore also focus on issues that go beyond the Alps: droughts, heat waves, extreme weather events, and the loss of biological diversity - and, “not to forget: the human dimension,” as Hofmann emphasized.
...also for business and tourism
Hofmann thus addressed a key issue that was explored in greater depth in the ensuing discussion: the impact of climate change on the people living in the Alps and on tourism, the region's economic engine. While winter tourism has helped many regions in Austria out of abject poverty, the question remains: “How can the identity of ‘Austria as a skiing nation’ be reconciled with the knowledge that ski resorts below 2,000 meters may not be viable in the near future?”
Hofmann raised key considerations about the future of tourism as an economic factor: “How can sustainability be reconnected with economic efficiency? What could a sustainable future that feeds people in the Alps look like?” In this context, he emphasized the important role of climate, environmental, economic, and biodiversity research, which together could provide the scientific basis for the development of alternative concepts: “We cannot continue as before - but what might the alternatives look like?”
Keynote: Climate change is here - what next?
An alpine summer landscape without gleaming white glaciers - according to current forecasts, this is no longer just a thought experiment. The introductory lecture by Georg Kaser, glaciologist, climate researcher, and professor emeritus at the University of Innsbruck, focused on the global retreat of glaciers and its far-reaching consequences.
Kaser, who is the co-author of several reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), began by comparing climate change to natural climate fluctuations and pointing out the importance of emission scenarios. "We are now already at almost 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. What we are experiencing now has nothing to do with fluctuations in equilibrium; it is a transformation. It is a total shift in the Earth's basic energy state,“ he emphasized. Such temperature increases used to take millennia, but today they are happening in just 150 years. ”We are extremely successful at heating up the Earth," said Kaser.
The climate researcher went on to explain the inertia of climate systems and outlined possible future scenarios based on these factors. In this context, he highlighted the potential developments of glaciers worldwide and illustrated their impact on sea level rise. “The global mass loss of glaciers is dramatic, with small glaciers disappearing completely and larger ones increasingly disintegrating,” Kaser explained. Even high-altitude glaciers at over 4,000 meters above sea level lost up to four meters of ice in the summer of 2021 due to a prolonged period of above-freezing temperatures.
His compelling global perspective and detailed analyses made it clear what further climate futures await us.
When asked by the audience where climate policy should start, Kaser had a clear answer: the quickest lever would be to redirect large financial flows and abolish subsidies that were going in the “wrong direction,” i.e., subsidies for fossil fuels. A longer-term strategy would be to invest in education and public awareness: “We need to understand again where our limits are,” Kaser appealed.
Biodiversity as a complex house of cards
Alpine ecosystems are also undergoing serious changes as a result of global warming. This is leading to a shift in species and a change in the distribution areas of numerous animal and plant species. “The snow line is shifting by about 20 meters per decade,” explained biodiversity researcher Stefan Dullinger (ECH, University of Vienna). Snow is becoming less abundant, vegetation denser and greener – a development that is causing increasing difficulties for many organisms. “A white-colored ptarmigan has a hard time trying to hide from birds of prey on brown ground,” said Dullinger, succinctly summarizing the problem.
This change in species is systematic and affects large parts of the Alps. Species found at lower altitudes are migrating to higher regions, while specialists at the highest altitudes are becoming increasingly rare. This also affects population sizes: species from lower regions are becoming more common, while those at the highest altitudes are in decline.
In connection with the biodiversity crisis, which is closely linked to climate change, so-called ecosystem services also played a decisive role. Dullinger emphasized that intact ecosystems in the Alps contribute significantly to slope stabilization, avalanche protection, and drinking water treatment. However, it is difficult to predict how the loss of biodiversity will affect these “services” because ecological systems are extremely complex. “The ecosystem is like a huge, complicated house of cards. You can remove some cards without anything happening – but if you pull the wrong one, a large part of the house of cards can collapse,” warned Dullinger. Many animal and plant species have a function whose loss we are not yet able to assess.
Alpine Club faces growing challenges
“We are feeling the rapid change in the climate in the mountains very clearly,” explained Doris Hallama, Vice President of the Austrian Alpine Club for Huts and Trails. “The processes and interactions are complex, but one thing is certain: the problems, especially with regard to infrastructure, are getting worse—both in the short term and in the future,” Hallama continued. Climate change is significantly altering the work of the Alpine Club. The effects are particularly noticeable in her area of responsibility, the maintenance of huts and trails. “We are already intensively confronted with water shortages due to heat waves, drought, and the shrinking glaciers, which otherwise function as natural water reservoirs. The thawing permafrost is also causing us major problems in many locations.”
In addition, increasing extreme weather events such as heavy rain and rockfalls made maintenance even more difficult. “In recent weeks, landslides have destroyed paths and in some cases even damaged huts. This instability in the weather is also becoming more and more of a problem for hikers, putting them in danger and presenting new legal challenges for the Alpine Club,” said Hallama. The Alpine Club must therefore increasingly adapt its work to new climatic realities.
Climate protection as an economic interest
Whether skiing on glaciers in summer and the use of snow cannons in view of the climate crisis exceed the “reasonable measure” demanded by Kaser was a question posed to economic sociologist Valentina Ausserladscheider (ECH, University of Vienna). The scientist studies the effects of climate change on Austrian tourism and explained the reasons why no fundamental transformation measures have yet been taken: “One should not underestimate the identity-forming and cultural significance of winter sports, and skiing in particular, for the ‘ski nation Austria,’” said Ausserladscheider. Furthermore, she said, these are long-established economic structures that cannot be changed so quickly. However, the researcher added that people in ski regions are not climate change deniers: “There are enough studies that show that awareness is there.” But often, either individual constraints, such as bank loans, or the effects of major crises such as pandemics or recessions are perceived as a greater threat than climate change. However, the fact that climate change is real, that there needs to be a rethink and a fundamental transformation process in winter tourism, and what this might look like, “is what I am looking at in my research,” explained Ausserladscheider. “Climate protection should become an economic interest,” she concluded, because then transformation processes would be initiated that could secure the economic survival of people in winter tourism regions that will be endangered in the future.
New narratives needed
In the final round, the question was discussed as to why awareness of the impending consequences of climate change is so low in Austria, as demonstrated by the results of the National Council elections on September 29.
Thilo Hofmann brought environmental psychology into play as a possible solution: Against the backdrop of the elections in Austria, but also in eastern Germany, we must ask ourselves, “How do we get people on board?” In the long term, investment in education and awareness-raising is essential, even though there is not really enough time for this. In the short term, economic models must be adapted so that corporations recognize climate protection as an economic interest in order to remain capable of acting.
According to Hofmann, it is also crucial to develop new narratives: even if the certainty of the coming climate catastrophe is depressing, it is still important to devise constructive and positive scenarios for the future. Only in this way can people be mobilized, shown options for action, and freed from feelings of paralysis and powerlessness. Science can provide evidence-based recommendations for these courses of action. At the end of the discussion, Georg Kaser called for a meeting of scientists and politicians “somewhere, in secret, without witnesses or the media, so that politicians can really listen to science for once.”
Moderator: Marlene Nowotny
Graphic recording: Kathrin Gusenbauer, Irrlicht-Impressions
Follow-up report: Nora Gau (ECH editorial director)
Graphic Recording
