SNOWFALL could reduce by up to 90 per cent in some parts of Scotland over the next 70 years, according to a consultation released yesterday.
Climate change minister Stewart Stevenson said the country must adapt.
"Some degree of climate change is unavoidable, as the impacts over the next 30 to 40 years have been determined by our past and present emissions," he said.
"We cannot prev
ent these, but we can adapt."
The consultation, entitled Adapting Our Ways: Managing Scotland's Climate Risk, says winter snowfall may reduce by 50 per cent or more across Scotland by the 2080s.
It adds: "The most obvious changes are over eastern Scotland, with a possible reduction of over 90 per cent of snowfall by the 2080s."
Future weather scenarios in the consultation also indicate an increase in the length of the "growing season" of 20 to 60 days by the 2080s.
The consultation is the first piece of work in building a climate-change "adaptation framework" for Scotland.
Clifton Bain, climate change policy officer for RSPB Scotland, said: "The challenge of adapting to climate change is enormous. The resistance of the natural environment to the impact of climate change and its ability to be our life support system has already been damaged."
The full article contains 217 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
