Glaciers have by no means melted as a lot as this summer time in Switzerland – rts.ch

At first of September, Matthias Huss, director of GLAMOS, traveled to the Gries Glacier within the Valais Alps. In the course of the ice, he may see the bedrock on the backside of a crevasse. In agony, the glacier will quickly be halved, he says.

This summer time, as for a number of years, the glaciologist from the Swiss Federal Institute of Expertise in Zurich (ETH Zurich) and his staff visited round twenty ice giants to evaluate their mass. Clearly, they measured the direct response of the glaciers to the climatic situation of the summer time.

A full report is deliberate for the autumn, however the traits are already clear: “Different years like 2011, 2015, 2018 and even 2019 had already seen a really robust soften. The 12 months 2022 is de facto totally different and beats all information”, however provides Matthias Huss.

Two measures

To determine the mass stability of the glaciers and know their state of well being, the staff of scientists goes to the summit of the 20 glaciers twice a 12 months. A primary measurement takes place in April, a second in September.

In current days, on the Gries glacier, the staff has seen a lack of 4 meters in thickness on the very best elements of the glacier. A document. “It is extraordinary: it corresponds to 2 or 3 times extra losses than in different years”, insists Matthias Huss.

Pessimistic forecasts

The commentary is similar for the Findel glacier above Zermatt which melted by greater than 2 meters at an altitude of 3400 meters, whereas “thus far it had at all times been capable of accumulate sufficient snow to spend the summer time “. As for the Corvatsch glacier in Graubünden, it has seen a lot ice soften that it will possibly not be measured.

The state of affairs can not enhance, in accordance with consultants. The melting causes boulders to look which retailer warmth and additional intensify the lack of mass.

at/gma