Ski resorts forced to use snow cannons to fight wildfires

There's hardly any snow above Adelboden in the intense August sunshine, never mind skiers. But the Swiss resort may have a new way to put its snowmaking equipment to work.Helping to douse Europe’s forest fires.Glaciers in Switzerland and around the Alps have been retreating rapidly in recent years, among other changes attributed to climate change. Snowfall has become less frequent and reliable over recent decades.That's a big issue for a mid-altitude ski resort like the Adelboden-Lenk area, whose roughly 200 kilometers (125 miles) of slopes span an altitude between 1,000 and 2,300 meters (3,280 and 7,545 feet). These days, an estimated 70% of the snow on its slopes is made artificially.Snow cannons and lances are the visible part of the snowmaking network. But much of it is out of sight: d