The glaciers have been disappearing rapidly for years. This summer they were particularly affected by the heat. The ETH partially discontinues the measurement programs – because the ice is missing.
For more than 10 years, tarpaulins have been intended to protect the Corvatsch Glacier (photo from 2011). They could hardly stop the decline.
(dpa)
The loss of ice on smaller Swiss glaciers was extreme this summer. “What we see was stronger than anything we previously thought possible,” said glaciologist Matthias Huss of the German Press Agency. On the Corvatsch glacier in south-eastern Switzerland, layers of ice that had been there for around 7000 years had melted, said the head of the Swiss glacier measurement network Glamos at ETH Zurich. The dating of the ice goes back to older measurements by the University of Heidelberg.
The measuring program at Corvatsch can no longer be continued because there is simply no ice at the measuring points, said Huss. “Therefore, all we have to do is collect and clear away all the material.”
The bitter end of our #glacier Mass balance monitoring program at Vadret dal Corvatsch today. Extreme melting has sealed our decision to stop the surveys.
Recent changes are just incredible! In the background ice crest >3000 year-old ice had been found. Now it’s almost gone. pic.twitter.com/iNNOy2dsSK— Matthias Huss (@matthias_huss) August 25, 2022
Glaciologists have been measuring glaciers in terms of winter snowfall and summer snowmelt as part of Glamos for decades. It was decided back in 2019 to phase out the measurement programs on three smaller glaciers: Pizol Glacier, Vadret dal Corvatsch and Schwarzbachfirn. Because the loss rates were lower than in previous years, especially last year, one hoped to be able to carry out measurements for a while longer. “The losses this summer were too bad,” said Huss. For technical reasons, the further loss of ice can no longer be measured.
As the ice melted, the landscape changed dramatically, Huss said. “The previously thin ice is disappearing in many places.” On the Corvatsch, an ice ridge with the ice that is thousands of years old has almost completely disappeared. “Only a small remnant of the ice is visible there,” said Huss.
There are also dramatic reports from Austria. A glacier in Tyrol, which has been under close scientific observation for decades, is melting faster than ever. According to data from the University of Innsbruck, the Hintereisferner in the Ötztal has lost five percent of its total volume this year.