What's behind European glaciers' alarming melting speed? | DW News

Glaciers in Central Europe have been melting faster than ever before, reaching their highest rates of disappearance since records began, according to a report published by the Swiss Commission for Cryospheric Observation (SCC) of the Swiss Academy of Sciences on Thursday. The SCC report said Switzerland's glaciers have lost 10% of their volume in just two years of extreme heat. The glaciers lost a record 6% of their volume in 2022 and 4% in 2023. Up until now, years with an ice loss of 2% were described as "extreme." According to the data in the report, as much ice was lost in the last two years alone as was lost in the three decades between 1960 and 1990. Consecutive years of low winter snowfall and high summer temperatures have led to the disintegration of glacier tongues, it added. At the same time, many small glaciers have disappeared. Earlier this year, an EU climate report said 2022 had the most Alpine glacier retreat of any year.

What is behind the record melting rate?
In the south and east of Switzerland, the rate of glacier melting in 2023 almost matched the record rate from 2022. An average ice melt of 3 meters was recorded at altitudes above 3,200 meters, far more than was recorded during the unusually hot summer of 2003. That is an altitude at which glaciers were in equilibrium until recently.

The situation has been exacerbated by low snowfall. The warm winter at the end of 2022 into 2023 left the measuring sites with much lower snow coverage than usual. Conditions were slightly different at altitudes of over 1,000 meters. In the first half of February, snow coverage was somewhat higher than it had been in the low-snow winters of 1964, 1990 and 2007, but this changed in the second half of the month when depths dropped to new record lows and were around just 30% of the long-term average. In spring, the situation briefly returned to normal. However, the dry and very warm June caused the snow to melt two to four weeks earlier than usual. The third warmest summer since measurements began and temperatures at times hitting the limit of zero degrees until September were responsible for the fact that isolated summer snowfalls mostly melted quickly doing little to help the glaciers.

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[gamingtonight]

Remember the Alps and other European Mountains allowed millions of people to have water to drink.

[ProctorsGamble]

We will die in our filth while the debate goes on.

[dannmarceau]

"What's behind European glaciers' alarming melting speed? "
If you have to ask, I pity your children, grandchildren...

[rodrigosenra]

well here in Brazil people burns fossil fuels like crazy even to blow the leaves away thats insane, so much trash around, so much poverty and misery...this isn't going to end well that's for sure.

[Haegemon]

I remember when I was young and could go in Summer to the Alps to enjoy snow. This is a lost cause. Since the 90s at Kioto Summit for climate I only see dragging feet. We're are already late.

[schlafcomandante]

What's behind European glaciers' alarming melting speed?
ExxonMobil, Shell, British Petroleum, Gazprom, Equinor, Chevron,

[cabanford]

I've lived in Zermatt for over 40 years (ex ski racer/instructor) and have watched the glaciers go from "melting" to "collapsing". The big switch was right around the year 2000.

No snow. No rain. Every year a LOT hotter. Mystery solved.

[AKrn]

We'll keep going faster and faster until we can't. Nature Bats Last

[gorillabang]

This can all be solved by asking the good people of Texas, Louisiana, and the rest of the American south to pray for the glacier and to reverse the effects of climate change and global warming.
Just look at what happened after they prayed to stop all the mass shootings in America. Exactly, more mass shootings. But let's not get disheartened, the glacier melting stuff is something their prayers will take care of in no time.

[gerryhouska]

Australia is helping by opening new coalmines and gas fields as fast as donations roll in.

[abody]

No matter what is measured and what is found, there will still be many who deny deny deny. I think skiing is the least of the world's worries.

[HAPninKEN]

The Earth see's People as a Cancer... it keeps trying to flush itself, over and over and over

[behzadnourani]

That s very dangerous. Each person must Start acting to deal with climate change.

[Chanchanlala]

as much people really hate Greta Thunberg, she is Right

[sixvee]

May the Anthropocene (Pyrocene (?)) epoch make the Permian-Triassic extinction event seem like a minor footnote in the pages of Earths history. Seems more and more likely, scenario SSP5-8.5 of the IPCC assessment may become a reality. If it does, enjoy what you can, while you still can; pity the next 3 to 5 generations to come.

[SkyeRangerNick]

What are we going to do if the glaciers are gone by 2030? Seems we are being hopeful with regard to melting.

[joseenoel]

These 2 probably drove to their jobs just like everyone else!

[abrahamdozer]

How much of the drinking water in Europe originates from alpine glaciers?
All of the great rivers spring from there.

[nsbdnow]

"Everything is becoming grey and stark."

[OldOneTooth]

Want a solution to today's problems vote for the right politicians forty years ago when you were warned of the problem.

Don't want the even worse problems 25 years from now. Vote for the politicians prepared to make the necessary changes now.