The Cryosphere, 22 August 2022
The 1400 Swiss glaciers have lost half their total ice volume during just the past eighty years. This retreat is accelerating, with an additional 1/8 of ice lost from 2016-2021. This study provides a first-ever reconstruction of ice loss in Switzerland throughout the 20th century, by comparing tens of thousands of photographs of glaciers in the same location nearly a century apart. The Alps have warmed about 2°C over the past century, nearly double the global average. Glaciers in lower elevation areas of the Alps where temperatures rise more quickly have melted faster than those at higher elevations; and thinner glaciers and those covered in debris are increasingly vulnerable to rapid ice loss. The disappearance of alpine glaciers jeopardizes Switzerland’s long-term energy sources, since hydropower produces nearly two-thirds of the country’s electricity. Without rapid and far-reaching emissions reductions, continued loss of frozen water resources will upends mountain ecosystems and environments, decrease seasonal access to water for power and agriculture, and dramatically reshape the Alps.
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/3249/2022/
By Emily Jacobson, Science Writing Intern; Amy Imdieke, Global Outreach Director; and Pam Pearson, Director of ICCI.
Published Aug. 26, 2022 Updated Aug. 26, 2022 4:03 pm
English 
Chinese