Fake snow in Alps, Moscow blooms: green Christmas?
Pastor Dale Morgan
Fake snow in Alps, Moscow blooms: green Christmas?*
12 Dec 2006 18:01:44 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Laura MacInnis
GENEVA, Dec 12 (Reuters - Alpine ski resorts are churning out artificial
snow, daisies are flowering by the Kremlin in Moscow and retailers are
fretting that Europeans are simply too warm to go Christmas shopping
with a record mild winter.
Butterflies have been seen in Denmark, some Nordic golf courses --
usually frozen for the winter -- have reopened and many farmers worry
that crops are sprouting far too early and could be killed by frost.
One historian says that Europe has just had its warmest autumn in 500
years. Experts say the mildness might be just a natural freak but many
suspect it may be linked to greenhouse gases caused by human burning of
fossil fuels.
Whatever the reasons, a recent dusting of snow has been welcome at
Alpine resorts, now gradually opening after long delays.
"Everybody is happy that it has snowed. The whole atmosphere is more
relaxed, it feels less stressed although the conditions are not totally
perfect yet," said Joerg Romang, head of communications for the Swiss
resort of Crans-Montana.
"A lot of fake snow is being produced right now," said a spokeswoman for
Austria's cable car association. Temperatures may rise again but the
snow is easing fears that Christmas skiers may have to spend a snowless
holiday hiking or at a spa.
In Russia, record December temperatures have kept bears from hibernating
and flowers such as daisies and purple violets have been seen in and
around the capital. Usually gripped by ice, Moscow basked at a record
7.7 Celsius (45.86F) on Dec. 7.
"Muscovites are smiling: they don't have to wear hats and the grass is
green," wrote popular daily Moskovsky Komsomolets, adding that Siberia
would become the world's granary if temperatures stayed warm.
WHITE CHRISTMAS
Retailers worry that shoppers are not cold enough even to start dreaming
of a white Christmas.
"Christmas business lacks impetus as there is no Christmas spirit in
warmer weather," said Hubertus Pellengahr, a spokesman for the German
retail trade association HDE. "Retail sales are far more weather related
than one might assume."
But Berlin's construction industry is keeping going at a time of year
when a winter chill usually forces a slowdown.
"The order books are full and thanks to the good weather the contracts
can be fulfilled," said Lutz Uecker, chief economist of the German
building industry federation ZDB.
In the Netherlands, the Dutch meteorological institute KNMI said 2006
was likely to be the warmest year in three centuries, and linked the
record with global warming that many scientists fear will bring more
floods, droughts and higher seas.
"If you look at trends, then you can say that this (the 2006 record) is
a signal of global warming," said Rob van Dorland of the KNMI
atmospheric research department.
Farmers are worried that plants, confused by the spring-like
temperatures, could suffer if harsh frost strikes. German asthma
sufferers are complaining of pollen and Sweden has suffered rare
December floods.
If crops such as rapeseed and autumn grains grow too much in the warmth
"that could mean problems in snowless dry frost beyond minus 10
centigrade," said Andras Uhercsak, head advisor at the Hungarian
farmers' group MOSZ.
In Finland, the Hartola golf club closed as usual because of snow at the
start of November but reopened after a rare thaw.
A report in science journal Nature this month said 2006 had the warmest
autumn since around the time Columbus sailed the Atlantic, about 2C
(3.6F) warmer than the long-term average.
The autumn beat the record-warm autumns of 1772, 1938 and 2000,
according to Elena Xoplaki of the University of Berne.
(Additional reporting by Olesya Dmitracova in Moscow, Rene Wagner and
Ulf Laessing in Berlin, Anna Mudeva in Amsterdam, Sakari Suoninen in
Helsinki, Andras in Budapest, Karin Strohecker in Vienna, Niklas Pollard
in Stockholm, Gelu Suluguic in Copenhagen)