Biodiverse Podcast - Ep. 2: Once upon a time there was snow

"Podcast Biodiverso" is the first podcast show from the naturetech 3Bee, which stands out in the climate podcast scene for its ability to weave irony, levity and information into a unique and accessible format for all. The first season is composed of 6 episodes, available on Spotify and Youtube, and tackles key current issues, such as the climate crisis and biodiversity, in a sparkling and original way. Each episode presents an exclusive perspective on the big questions of sustainability: from climate change to sex, from feelings to mosquito extinction, and even nuclear energy. Not the usual green podcast, but a tool for spreading, comparing and learning, to tell the story of biodiversity in a new way, also thanks to the contribution of renowned guests.

In the second episode of "Podcast Biodiverso", entitled "Once upon a time there was snow", is guest Sofia Farina, graduate in atmospheric physics and President of Protect Our Winters Italia, to explore the topic of SOS snow and solutions to make mountain tourism more sustainable. If the increase in the average global temperature recorded so far is one degree, the increase in the average temperature on our Alps has risen by a good 2 degrees, practically twice as much. With our glaciers suffering and the mountains becoming increasingly poor in snow, the ski resorts are also in great difficulty. And so: in ten years' time will we still be able to ski in the Alps? This is just one of the questions that 3Bee answers in the second episode of "Biodiverse podcast".

Our country offers more than 280 ski resorts with almost 5,800 km of slopes served, but Italy is among the Alpine countries most dependent on artificial snow with 90% of its slopes artificially covered. In spite of this, there are plenty of facilities still under construction in our mountains. Due to the climate changes and the absence of snow, there is a tendency to design new lifts at higher altitudes, to replace those at lower altitudes that are no longer useless. Mountain tourism has increased in recent years, so much so that we can speak of overtourism. As pointed out by Sofia Farina in the second episode of the 3Bee podcast, we should start to experience the mountains in a slower way, but the trend today is exactly the opposite. In fact, new fashions are in vogue, such as apres-skiing at high altitudes, the sport of eliskiing or even eli-barbecue (barbecues at high altitudes), which significantly impact the mountain ecosystem and its biodiversity.

Sofia Farina is an atmospheric physicist and science communicator. She loves observing and reporting on meteorology in all its forms, even while running and skiing in the Alps and Appennines (did you say multitasking?). Sofia has a PhD in Alpine Meteorology from the University of Trento, where she specialised in turbulent fluid dynamics of circulations in complex terrain. From her studies in Bologna, she learnt activism and has been a member of the board of international CIPRA for 3 years. In addition, she has been President of Protect Our Winters Italy since 2023.

Did you know how artificial snow is made? It is produced by special machinery that mimics the process that occurs naturally at high altitude: the particles of water suspended in the clouds freeze and fall to the ground. The production of artificial snow is strictly dependent on temperature and moisture: when conditions are not ideal, a large quantity of snow cannot be guaranteed. During the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the temperatures recorded in the Cypress Mountain area were so high that the production of artificial snow was impossible. In order to allow the skiing and snowboarding races to take place, tens of tonnes of straw had to be placed on the slopes and hundreds of tonnes of snow collected at higher altitudes had to be transported. In this context, a study by the University of Basel in 2022 argues that snowed slopes will be increasingly rare, even if artificial snow is used to whitewash them.

The next episodes of Biodiverse Podcast will be released every three weeks and will cover topics such as nuclear energy, mosquito extinction, the future of mountains and sports such as alpine skiing, hunting and environmental activism:
. - Climatic action or distraction? - Coming soon
- Atomic episode - Coming soon
- Hunting for Biodiversity - Coming soon
- Biodiversity that stings - Coming soon
"Biodiverse Podcast" explores from a new perspective all those topics that 3Bee offers every day in company training programmes and in school educational plans, in a dynamic and engaging format. It is an invitation to discover, reflect and act, with the aim of creating an ever-widening network of ambassadors of change, aware of the importance of biodiversity for our planet.