Have skis. But where's the snow?

The Australian government and populace may need to divert some of its focus from staging a continuous mining boom to augment its economic stability to laying down immediate strategies to curb global warming if it wants to save its world-renowned Australian Alps.

The Caring For Our Australian Alps Catchments reports that climate change had threatened the Alps, with rising temperatures slowing melting away its natural slow. The Australian Alps could be completely bare of natural winter snow by 2050.

The report, commissioned by the Australian government, found declining snow in 60 percent of the Alps' 235 Catchments covering Victoria, NSW and the ACT. The authors said the region will experience an average temperature rise up to 2.9 degrees. A 24 percent reduction in precipitation by 2050 is likewise seen that could trigger bushfires, droughts, severe storms and more rapid run-off that will trigger heavy erosion. All these will lead to severe situations in the catchment.

The spring thaw is also expected to occur on average two days earlier per decade. Higher temperatures will mean ''any precipitation falling in the Alps will fall increasingly as rain rather than snow,'' the report says.

The report authors Graeme Worboys, Andy Spate and Roger Good listed ''priority actions'' to help lessen the impact of global warming on the Alps, such as stopping catchment degradation caused by weeds and feral animals, forming a resilient ecosystem with better erosion control, exploring better catchments and involving the active participation of local communities and volunteers.

These suggestions would cost government and the voting public $105 million over 15 years - ''a small percentage of the annual economic benefits provided by the water yields flowing from the Alps catchment.''

"The effects of climate change are predicted to be the single greatest threat to the natural condition values of the Australian Alps catchments,'' the report says.

Water in the Alps helps create $15 billion worth of agricultural produce. It stands for 29 percent of average inflows into the Murray-Darling Basin. It also contributes to electrify the Snowy and Kiewa hydro-electric scheme, generating power worth about $300 million per year.

The last time a full health check was made on the Alps Catchments was in 1957. The report aims to provide policy makers with an overview of a longer technical report issued in June 2010.