Combating climate change possible in resort areas
Editor:
(Re: “Climate Corner: Facing the truth: freezing temps are a symptom of climate change,” Feb. 26. Aspen Daily News)
Jacquelyn Francis’ column on the contribution of global heating to recent “bitter Arctic air” in the East missed an important point. This “cold snap” was a return to near-average winter temperatures in many places, with some epic snow.
In the Northeast and Midwest, January was about the 40th coldest of NOAA’s 131-years of observations, half a degree below normal. (As I write this, February isn’t listed yet.)
Over recent three- or six-month periods, almost all of the West from the Olympic Peninsula to Padre Island experienced the highest temperatures in those 131 years. Numero uno!
Many counties in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming were 5-6 degrees above that average.
To minimize this trend, the world needs many reductions in greenhouse emissions. In my opinion, ski towns and the winter sports industry should focus on and expand efforts to reduce heating combustion emissions.
Lots of resorts and sports involve air travel; Palm Springs and Palm Beach have busy jetports. Many resort areas need to reduce commuting. (The “entrance to Anna Maria Island” adds a drawbridge to a two-lane commute in Florida!)
Despite current warming, winter sports areas use relatively more heat than most of the world. When we burn gas for heating, the resulting CO2 heats the planet six times more than the heat we get out of it. Each year and every year for the next few hundred. Capiche?
As an international destination, we should collaborate more with Europeans on heat pumps, heat storage, district heat and geothermal heat (not geothermal generation, mostly an American distraction). A dozen heat pump factories are located within 50 miles of this last Winter Olympics. Many use “natural refrigerants,” superior to the chemicals Americans are restricted to.
The 2026 Mine Water Geothermal Energy Symposium will be held in the U.K. at the end of April. It will be held in a building heated by a district system, partially supplied by heat pumps that boost water from an abandoned mine to 180 degrees. Possibly relevant to Aspen.
Fred Porter
Carbondale