Geneva — A prominent expert in glaciology warned people that the warm climate and last week’s heat wave might cause glaciers to melt in Switzerland. It could break the last year’s record of ice melt.
Complete data regarding this prediction will be available in late September, Matthias Huss of the GLAMOS Glacier Monitoring Center said. The recent significant decrease in temperatures and snowfall at high altitudes over the past few days may help prevent further harm or damage. They could positively impact by reducing the negative consequences of a certain situation.
However, some signs based on readings from five sites across Switzerland suggest that early signs based on readings from five sites and modeling results across Switzerland suggest significant harm may have already occurred.
In a recent interview, Huss said, “We can definitely say that we had very high melting in Switzerland and in Europe in general because the temperatures, they were extremely high for a long time — a more than one week heat wave.”
Swiss meteorologist announced last week that the freezing point had reached its highest elevation in Switzerland since the recorded data 70 years ago. It means that all of Switzerland’s mountains will have temperatures below freezing.
Last year was extraordinarily challenging for Switzerland, with 1,400 glaciers, the highest number in any European country. This situation serves as an indicator of the climate change effects.
The blanket of snow is essential to protecting glaciers because it reflects sunlight–the albedo effect. Huss said, “almost all glacier ice was kind of naked.” This shows the harmful effect of heat on glaciers.
