Abnormal heat has accelerated the melting of glaciers in Switzerland: what will be the consequences for Europe?

Record heat waves in Switzerland have caused glaciers to lose snow cover much earlier than usual, accelerating the melting of the ice. Scientists warn that this could lead to significant losses of ice cover this summer and affect freshwater supplies in Europe.

This is reported by The New York Times .

A series of record-breaking heat waves in Europe has caused the snow on Switzerland’s glaciers to melt much earlier than usual, causing exposed ice to melt rapidly.

“We are now in a situation that usually only occurs in August. This is really worrying,” said Matthias Huss, a glaciologist at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

Scientists note that alpine glaciers provide water for rivers, drinking water, agriculture, hydroelectric power plants and are used to cool nuclear power plants. After the snow cover disappears, sunlight begins to directly affect the ice, which accelerates its melting.

“This is not about events in a hundred years. This could happen within the next 10-20 years,” Matthias Huss noted.

This spring, Swiss glaciers entered a warm season with snowpack that was about 25% less than the 2010-2020 average. Since then, France, the UK, Germany, Switzerland and other European countries have been hit by two record-breaking heat waves.

Climatologists say such a prolonged and intense heatwave would be virtually impossible without human-caused global warming. As early as June 29, the total amount of snow and ice on Swiss glaciers reached levels usually seen only at the end of summer. This was the first time such a situation had been seen since 2022.

Over the past two decades, Swiss glaciers have lost between 1% and 4% of their ice volume each year, and in particularly hot years this figure has been even higher.

Last week, Matthias Huss and his colleagues took measurements on glaciers and recorded significant melting rates. On the Rhone Glacier, the ice thickness decreased by about 1 meter in just 10 days in June.

An equally difficult situation is observed on the largest glacier in the Alps, the Great Aletsch.

“The snow there has already become wet and is literally melting before our eyes. These are completely atypical conditions for such an altitude,” said Matthias Huss.

According to estimates by Nichols College glaciologist Mauri Pelto, during the June heat wave, the boundary between the snow-covered and open parts of the Great Aletsch Glacier rose by more than 400 meters, which is confirmed by satellite images.

Despite the use of satellite technology, scientists continue to use special measuring poles to monitor glaciers. Due to accelerated ice melt this summer, researchers will likely have to install new measuring rods earlier than planned.

“It looks like it will be necessary this summer,” Matthias Huss concluded.

Recall that the June heat wave that swept Europe has already led to about 3,700 additional deaths in France, Belgium and the Netherlands . The largest number of victims was recorded in France, where more than two thousand people died due to high temperatures.

Also follow “Pryamim” on Facebook , X , Telegram , and Instagram.