Study: Heatwave caused unprecedented melting of Swiss glaciers

The Swiss Academy of Sciences reports that ice shrinking in glaciers in Switzerland – which has the highest amount of glaciers of any country in Europe – has topped the previous record retreat almost a generation ago.

“2022 was a disastrous year for Swiss glaciers: a severe winter snowfall and continuous summer heat waves broke all records for melting ice,” the academy said in a statement. Glacier Monitoring Network.

The report detailed the damage in the Swiss Alps: more than six meters of ice melted this year at the Koncordiaplatz summit in the Great Aletsch Glacier in the south near the Italian border.

The team said smaller glaciers such as Pizzol in the east near Liechtenstein, Vadret dal Korvatsch near St Moritz in the southeast and the Schwarzbachfiren in central Switzerland have “practically disappeared”.

The country caused a major meltdown this year in what can be considered a “perfect storm.”

Snow cover in the Swiss Alps was exceptionally light this year – particularly in the southeast – meaning glaciers had little natural protection from the heat. At the same time, dust drifts from the Sahara that blanketed many parts of Europe in spring contaminated the ice, causing it to absorb more solar heat.

Then, the summer heat intensified across Europe – the pressure intensified.

Switzerland is not alone: ​​the Bavarian Academy of Sciences in Germany said the ice sheet on the southern Schneifner in the Alps has melted so much this summer that it can no longer be considered a glacier – leaving Germany with only four glaciers now.

The findings come on top of another study released last month showing that Switzerland’s 1,400 glaciers have lost more than half of their total volume since the early 1930s.

This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed.