Snow cover and snow depth trends in the Balkans

Climate change impacts the majority of our planet’s ecosystems, and human lives and activities. As precipitation and temperature patterns evolve differently compared to historical trends, significant changes are also observed in snow on both global and local scales. One region where the economy and daily life are highly dependent on snow, and which is notably affected by climate change, is southeastern Europe. This research is performed in the frame of SNOWCLIM project funded by the European Climate Foundation and it aims to analyze historical trends in snow depth and snow coverusing numerical model reanalysis and satellite data. The study focuses on the Balkan Peninsula along a north-south gradient, with particular attention to the ski centers in these countries. The results indicate a pronounced decreasing trend in both snow depth and snow cover duration across most of the region. However, the impact of climate change is not uniform across all months, regions, or ski centers, thus the study also discusses in depth these spatial and temporal variations.