It was a distinctly meditative(冥想的，沉思的) concert, performed by a pianist-composer and a woman who strokes(抚摩，轻抚) crystal bowls. Some 250 people had gathered in a meadow high in the Italian Alps, facing the moonlit bulk of Mt Chaberton. The Deipratiedellestelle (Of Meadows and Stars) festival brings music, dance and performance to an area usually known for its winter sports. With Europe experiencing severe heatwaves, such events have taken on added significance(具有了额外的意义): the Alps are warming at more than twice the northern hemisphere’s average rate. “You cannot base all your tourism on skiing at a time when the ski season is getting shorter and shorter,” says Daniela Cattaneo, the festival’s producer.(在滑雪季越来越短的时候，你不能把旅游业全押在滑雪上。)
那是一场极具冥想氛围的音乐会，由一位钢琴家兼作曲家与一位抚摩水晶碗的女性共同演出。约250人聚集在意大利阿尔卑斯山高处的一片草地上，面对着月光下宏伟的沙伯通山。这场名为“草地与星辰”的节日将音乐、舞蹈和表演带到了一个通常以冬季运动闻名的地区。随着欧洲遭遇严重热浪，此类活动意义倍增：阿尔卑斯山的升温速度是北半球平均水平的两倍多。“在滑雪季越来越短的时候，你不能把旅游业全押在滑雪上，”该节日的制作人丹妮拉·卡塔内奥表示。
Artificial snowmaking(人工造雪) helps. Researchers in 2023 found that of 2,000 ski resorts across Europe, over half will lack enough snow in one winter out of two if mean temperatures reach 2°C above pre-industrial levels.(2023年研究人员发现，如果平均气温比工业化前水平高出2°C，欧洲2000个滑雪胜地中超过一半将每两年有一个冬天缺乏足够降雪。) With snow cannons(造雪机) for half their skiable surface, that would fall to 27%. But snowmaking is expensive and uses lots of electricity and water. “It cannot keep pace with(跟上…的步伐) global warming,” says Daniel Scott, a geographer at the University of Waterloo in Canada. At the lower-altitude resorts that most need snowmaking, temperatures more often rise too high for it to be possible.
人工造雪有所帮助。2023年研究人员发现，在欧洲2000个滑雪胜地中，如果平均气温比工业化前水平高出2°C，超过一半的滑雪场将每两年中有一个冬天缺乏足够的降雪。如果为一半可滑雪面积配备造雪机，这一比例将降至27%。但造雪成本高昂，且消耗大量电力和水资源。“它无法跟上全球变暖的步伐，”加拿大滑铁卢大学地理学家丹尼尔·斯科特表示。在最需要造雪的低海拔滑雪场，气温常常过高，导致造雪无法进行。
Another strategy is to build high-tech gondolas(缆车) to whisk(迅速运送) skiers to ever-higher altitudes. Several feature in(在…中占重要地位) a €50m ($58m) programme unveiled(公布，推出) last December by Italy’s Piedmont region. But these can overcrowd the peaks, and are useless to inexperienced skiers and snowboarders who prefer gentle lower slopes.
另一种策略是建造高科技缆车，将滑雪者送往更高的海拔。意大利皮埃蒙特地区去年12月公布的一项耗资5000万欧元（5800万美元）的计划中，就有几项这样的缆车。但这些缆车可能使山顶过度拥挤，而且对喜欢平缓低坡的初学者和单板滑雪者毫无用处。