Global warming affects ski club plans

Global warming affects ski club plans

Monday, January 14, 2008

By Rachel Reznick, Allderdice High School (City of Pittsburgh Schools)

It seems as though global warming is directly affecting a popular Allderdice extra-curricular activity—Ski Club. Friday nights from December through March typically mean traveling to Seven Springs Resort for the 185 members of the club, but this may soon change if the weather continues on its path of rising temperatures.

Fashion Arts teacher Sylvia Simon has sponsored Ski Club for the past sixteen years. "Recently it has become virtually impossible to get eight trips in a season because of all the warm weather," she said. "For example, there have been days where it is 75 degrees and some when [we’re] constantly having rain instead of snow, so we would have to reschedule the trips." According to environmental activist and chemistry teacher Linda Neumann, this sounds like the possible affects of global warming.

"Research into the composition of the carbon dioxide and methane concentrations are the highest ever noted in geological history," said Neumann. She explains that it is impossible to notice the toll global warming has taken in a short period of time, such as 16 years. "It takes thousands of years of data, but it is obvious that the earth is getting warmer."

Environmentally conscious senior skier Jon Williams describes global warming as the effect of the "pollutants we release into the atmosphere, which one: destroy the ozone layer, which protects us from the sun, and two: reflect the heat back at the earth rather than let it escape into the universe. This heats up the air temperature and messes up weather patterns."

Allderdice is not alone in encountering ski problems due to recent warm weather. According to National Geographic’s June issue, the Chacaltaya ski area located in the Andes mountains of Bolivia "was no competition for Aspen [Colorado]," but the glacier it depended on has melted away over the past decade, leaving the area without any snow or ice on which to ski. Chacaltaya’s crisis is not isolated; ski resorts all over the world are encountering similar problems.

In order to adjust to the rising temperatures, this year’s ski club is planning to offer only four trips. "There have been shorter and shorter seasons because there are not as many good skiing days. We are forced to drastically cut back our season," said Simon. "So, this 50 percent cutback will now allow for more flexibility in our scheduling."

Williams has noticed the change over the years. "We need to cut back on how we contribute to global warming, or else there might be a time when we won’t ever be able to ski." However, he believes that we can potentially reverse the affects of global warming. "You can save energy, drive less, do small things," Williams said. "[You can] turn off lights and turn down the heat at night."

Neumann also believes there are ways of countering global warming, and advises, "If you want to go skiing, go to alternative fuels!"

For more information about the Ski Club, contact Sylvia Simon or Sonia Henze.