For members of the snow community, the effects of climate change also herald potentially significant disruption to the winter sports they love and upon which many livelihoods now depend.

With this bleak future in mind, online equipment retailer Surfdome has teamed up with Protect Our Winters UK to launch a campaign, Winter Needs Us, aimed at raising awareness among winter sport enthusiasts about what lies in store without some concerted action.

According to a study published last year by the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research and the CRYOS Laboratory at the École Polytechnique Fédérale in Switzerland, the Alps could lose up to 70% of their snow cover by the end of this century.

In addition to loss of snow, the period of winter in which the snow is deep enough for winter sports could be cut significantly shorter, the same report warns.

Surfdome said it wanted to use its influence in the action sports community to encourage climate action. “We want to use this position in a positive way to get the public to understand the consequences of climate change, and what we stand to gain by stopping it, or lose by failing to,” the company said.

So what’s the campaign all about?

In conjunction with POW, Surfdome recommends a range of ways members of winter sport community can take action, from small personal measures such as switching to a renewable energy supplier through to bigger actions such as investing in a sustainable pension fund.

“Positive climate action must be taken by us all now! We understand that as a business within the outdoor and snow sports community we need to be leading by example, not only within our own business but also by teaming up with POW UK to help our customers understand that they have the power to make changes today!” said Adam Hall, head of sustainability at Surfdome.

Surfdome and POW have produced a campaign video. Click here to view.