Polar glaciers are not the only ones that have had to face the incessant climate crisis, mountain glaciers such as the Swiss Alps have also suffered the consequences. Little by little, they have been giving way to the high temperatures, and during this last year, the heat has been such that it has revealed an ancient path that had been hidden under the ice for 2,000 years.
Thawing leaves the earth bare
In the southwest of ri, in the heart of the Alps, is the junction of two important glaciers, the Scex Rouge which joins the Tsanfleuron in the pass that bears the same name as the latter. At an altitude of 2,800 meters, both glaciers cover the canton of Vaud and Valais, where the Glacier 3000 ski resort is located.
The earth supporting the Tsanfleuron Pass had not been exposed since 2,000 years ago when the Roman era erected what is now Switzerland. However, the violent heat waves that have hit Europe in recent months have caused a rise in temperatures such that for the first time the tongue of land can be seen naked high in the Swiss Alps.
[Photo: Denis Balibouse]
Glaciologists have been monitoring the Swiss mountains for decades to study melting patterns and the danger this poses to the region. In 2021, measurements showed a thickness of 15 meters of ice covering the Tsanfleuron Pass, but now there is none of it left and the land is completely exposed.
Unfortunately, forecasts do not predict a favorable scenario; on the contrary, the melting rate is expected to be higher shortly. According to Mauro Fischer, a glaciologist at the University of Bern, “the loss of glacier thickness in the Diablerets region will be, on average, three times higher this year compared to the last 10 years”.
Not the only region affected
The melting of ice in the Alps has been thoroughly studied since the early 2000s, but it is known that this was not the beginning of the temperature rise problems that have pushed the glaciers to the limit. A new study has just revealed that since 1931, the glaciers have lost 50% of their volume.
[Photo: Denis Balibouse]
Glaciologists have published their findings in the scientific journal La Cryosphère, where they explain that they have managed to reconstruct the retreat of ice in the twentieth century. For the study of the ice bodies in the Alps, the researchers used up to 21,700 photographs taken between 1916 and 1947, with which they can have a record of at least 86% of the Swiss glacial surface. They also used a technique called stereophotogrammetry, which is capable of determining the nature, shape, and position of an object just by using images of it.
They found that the melting of Swiss glaciers has not been continuous, even showing times when the ice volume increased between the 1920s and 1980s. However, global warming has been decreasing the extent of ice melting faster and faster. In the period from 2016 to 2022 alone, they lost a total of 12% of their volume.
2022 is expected to be a very severe year for the region, as it is likely to break all snowmelt records in history.
Story originally published in Spanish in Ecoosfera
