Читать книгу Shaped by Snow. Defending the Future of Winter онлайн

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It’s uncertain what the future of snow will be. Even if the world experiences horrific climate change, drowning islands and cities, and mass desertification, snow won’t disappear completely. Water molecules will continue to crystallize and develop into snowflakes whenever the atmospheric conditions are right. But the way that we interact with snow will change. Organisms that have evolved around the constant, seasonal, or even intermittent presence of snow will be forced to adapt. Ecosystems reliant upon watersheds downstream of snow will struggle with drought. Communities, like mine, that have developed around the presence of snow will become scarce. We would no longer be able to line the streets with snowmen.

If climate change causes snow to stop falling, I won’t just mourn snow. I will mourn the places that snow shapes: alpine ecosystems, glaciers and mountain ranges, watersheds and rivers, our climate, the beautiful ski community I grew up a part of. I will mourn that my grandchildren and great-grandchildren won’t be able to catch snowflakes on their sleeves and marvel at their six points, or learn how to ski.