As global warming continues to take a toll, the amount of snowfall on the Korean Peninsula is forecast to more than halve in 70 years from the current levels, a group of researchers forecast Thursday.

The average volume of snowfall near the Han River, which runs through Seoul, reached 48.4 centimeters annually in the 2000s, but the figure will likely drop to around 30 cm in the 2040s before further diving to the 13.9-18.6 cm level in the 2080s, a research group from Konkuk University said in its report.

The downtrend of annual snowfall levels is predicted to be more pronounced in areas near Yeongsan River along the city of Gwangju, 329 km south of Seoul, the paper noted.

The average amount for that area, which stood at 32 cm during 2000-2009, will likely shrink to as low as 7.5 cm in the 2040s, further decreasing to the 0.9-4.4 cm range in the 2080s, it said.

The country will also see the snowfall level near the Nakdong River in the southeast slide to the 6.9-12.6 cm range in the 2080s from the 15.3 cm annual average seen in the 2000s, it added.

“The steep decreases in wintertime snowfall amounts indicate the seriousness of global warming,” the research group said.

They also predicted the average temperature on the Korean Peninsula will go up by 1 degree in the 2020s compared to now and by as much as 4.2 degrees by the 2080s, given continued effects from global warming. 

(Yonhap News)