Dr. Elizabeth Burakowski: Climate change and winter recreation

January 13, 2026

SciLine interviews experts and then makes the video and other resources rapidly available for TV newsrooms to use on air.

Journalists: Get Email Updates

What is Experts on Camera?

Winter arrived unevenly across the country, with minimal snowfall in the western U.S. and a roaring start in the eastern U.S. On January 13, 2026, SciLine interviewed Dr. Elizabeth Burakowski, a research assistant professor of earth sciences at the University of New Hampshire.

TV bundle includes:

Soundbite (SOT)
VOSOT script (can be used as-is or modified)
Raw, full-length interview video & log with timecodes (upon request via form below)
Localizable data

These resources are free to use. No attribution to SciLine is required.

Soundbite (SOT) and pronouncer

Downloadable video of the soundbite

High definition (mp4, 1280x720)

Download

Click for VOSOT script (can be used as-is or modified)

ANCHOR
CLIMATE CHANGE IS WARMING OUR WINTERS… AND WINTER RECREATION AND TOURISM IS PAYING THE PRICE.

VO
DOCTOR ELIZABETH BURAKOWSKI IS A CLIMATE RESEARCHER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMSHIRE.
SHE SAYS WINTER RECREATION AND TOURISM ARE INCREASINGLY UNDER THREAT AS RISING TEMPERATURES AFFECT SNOWFALL… SNOWPACK… AND THE LENGTH OF THE SEASON.
EACH YEAR… SHE SAYS SNOW SPORTS LIKE SKIING… HOCKEY… AND SNOWMOBILING… GENERATE MORE THAN 70-BILLION-DOLLARS AND SUPPORT OVER 700-THOUSAND-JOBS.
BUT WITH SHORTER… MILDER WINTERS… DOCTOR BURAKOWSKI SAYS IT’S NOT JUST THE ECONOMY AT RISK.

SOT
Duration: 0:50
Super: Dr. Elizabeth Burakowski – Climate Researcher, University of New Hampshire
“When I think about what my parents experienced when they were growing up in New Jersey and in the Northeast, they had longer winters. They had more snow, they have more lake ice. And even today, when I look at what my children experience, they have no real expectation that there’s going to be snow at Christmas. They love it when it happens, but it’s not necessarily a solid situation that is always gonna happen for them. And when I think about what they’re going to experience when they’re parents themselves, I think that is a key driver of understanding what our landscape is going to look like. I think it’s important to visualize that as our future and decide what we want. Do we want to see in our future winters? And for me, I want to continue to see snow. I want to be able to continue taking my kids out ice skating on ponds.”

VO
DOCTOR BURAKOWSKI SAYS THE LONG-TERM SOLUTION IS MOVING AWAY FORM FOSSIL FUELS THAT DRIVE CLIMATE CHANGE.
IN THE SHORT TERM… SHE SAYS MANY COMMUNITIES RELY ON SNOWMAKING TO KEEP THEIR RESORTS OPEN.

Raw, full-length interview covers:

How climate change is affecting snowfall, snowpack, and the length of the winter season;
What a “good” winter means in the context of a warming climate;
Why winter recreation matters economically and culturally in the U.S.;
How visitation and participation trends are changing at ski resorts;
How resorts and communities are adapting to changing winters; and
What climate projections say about the future of snow-dependent recreation.