For lovers of winter sports, it’s been a depressing start to the ski season – unseasonally warm temperatures have kept snow to a minimum and even an initial early flurry of the white stuff was followed by bucketloads of rain that have all but washed most of the cover away.
Skiers and boarders are checking webcams daily and finding more green grass than snow, and with school holidays starting next week, many families will be desperately trying to cancel or move bookings that have cost them an arm and a leg.
Snow coverage is in a long-term spiral due to rising temperatures caused by climate change, according to data from the Bureau of Meteorology. This winter has also been affected by the onset of an El Nino weather pattern, declared by the bureau on June 16, which brings warmer and drier conditions.
While the situation down south currently looks grim, it’s not unprecedented. Industry experts said June was often a bad month for snowfalls, and they pointed hopefully to forecast snowfalls in July.
But the overall trend is alarming. Peak snow depths have been decreasing by 0.7 centimetres per year and 0.6 centimetres per year at Spencers Creek in NSW and Rocky Valley Dam in Victoria.
The environment group Protect Our Winters Australia lays the blame for shrinking snow coverage directly at the feet of the fossil fuel industry.
On one estimate, the ski industry is worth $3.3 billion annually. Faced with rising temperatures, it has invested heavily in snowmaking technology, but even this requires sub-zero temperatures to operate. While maintaining their winter status, Thredbo and Jindabyne have pivoted to become all-year round attractions, pushing mountain biking, hiking and fishing in summer months.
As climate change hits winter tourism, the Great Barrier Reef is also suffering from rising temperatures as the phenomenon creates warmer seas.
The federal government estimates tourism on the Great Barrier Reef contributes more than $9 billion a year to the Australian economy and, as the nation’s fifth-biggest employer, it supports 77,000 jobs.
It is one of the seven natural wonders of the world and features on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
However, according to the Australian Institute of Marine Science, mass bleaching events have occurred on the Great Barrier Reef over many years recently.
“The event [in 2025] was the sixth since 2016 and, while less extensive than the bleaching event in 2024, it is the second time the reef has experienced consecutive events.”
The current El Nino event could increase the likelihood of coral bleaching throughout the reef.
What’s crazy about all this is these events are happening even as both the Coalition and One Nation either downplay or dismiss the role of climate change on our economy.
The Coalition has formally abandoned its commitment to the legislated net zero by 2050 target. One Nation, riding high in opinion polls, goes even further, saying there is “insufficient evidence” of man-made global warming and labelling climate change a “hoax”.
Talk about fiddling while Rome burns. For the sake of skiers, snorkellers, farmers and financiers – in fact, all of us – politicians of all persuasions must act urgently to do all in their power to help alleviate the catastrophic impact of a warming planet.
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