Tag: mountains

The race to save post-glacial landscapes amidst glacier retreat

By Amélie HERENSTEIN LES CONTAMINES, France, Oct 19, 2023 (AFP) – Water surged through a desolate canyon of grey rock into a blue-grey lake, an ancient landscape only revealed to humanity in recent decades because France’s glaciers have retreated so far. The rocks bore the markings of the ice and, on an unseasonably hot day in October high above the ski resort of Chamonix, experts from the Ice and Life research project were clear that […]

Massive rockslide just misses Swiss village

GENEVA, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – A Swiss village came within a hair’s breadth of being wiped off the map when a mountain towering above it collapsed overnight, officials said Friday. The massive rockslide missed Brienz in the east of the country, which had been evacuated on Monday, “by a hair”, they said. The 84 inhabitants were ordered from their homes on Monday after the authorities said the Insel peak had become instable. They said […]

Swiss glaciers shrink in half since 1931: study

  by Nina LARSON Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Swiss glaciers have shed half their volume since 1931, Swiss researchers said Monday, following the first reconstruction of the country’s ice loss in the 20th century. Rapid glacier melt in the Alps and elsewhere, which scientists say is driven by climate change, has been increasingly closely monitored since the early 2000s. However, until now there has been little insight into how glaciers changed prior […]

Swiss mountain pass set to lose all ice within weeks

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The thick layer of ice that has covered a Swiss mountain pass for centuries will have melted away completely within a few weeks, a ski resort said Thursday. Following a dry winter, the summer heatwaves hitting Europe have been catastrophic for the Alpine glaciers, which have been melting at an accelerated rate. The pass between Scex Rouge and Tsanfleuron has been iced over since at least the Roman era. But as […]

Italy blames climate change for glacier collapse, 7 dead

by Francesco Gilioli with Ella Ide in Rome Agence France-Presse CANAZEI, Italy (AFP) — Italy’s prime minister on Monday linked the collapse of the country’s biggest Alpine glacier to climate change, as hopes faded of finding further survivors from a disaster that killed at least seven people. Eight people were injured and another 14 were reported missing, authorities said, cautioning that it was not clear how many climbers were caught when the glacier gave way […]

Thermal drones seek survivors after deadly Italy glacier collapse

  CANAZEI, Italy (AFP) — Rescuers used thermal drones Monday to search for possible survivors trapped under ice after an avalanche set off by the collapse of the largest glacier in the Italian Alps killed at least six people and injured eight others. Authorities said they did not know how many climbers were hit when the glacier gave way Sunday on Marmolada, the highest mountain in the Italian Dolomites. “We found bodies torn apart, in […]

Glacier collapses in Italian Alps, six dead: rescuers

by Francesco GILIOLI, with Gildas LE ROUX in Rome Agence France-Presse CANAZEI, Italy (AFP) — An avalanche set off by the collapse of the largest glacier in the Italian Alps killed at least six people and injured eight others Sunday, an emergency services spokeswoman said. The glacier collapsed on the mountain of Marmolada, the highest in the Italian Dolomites, near the hamlet of Punta Rocca, on the route normally taken to reach its summit. The […]

Glacier lakes accelerate disappearance of permanent ice: study

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – Glaciers are retreating faster globally due to climate change but they melt more quickly when they flow into a lake than when they end on land, with consequences for water supplies, a new study found on Thursday. The Swiss-funded study is the first large-scale, detailed analysis of the phenomenon in mountain glaciers and could help forecast major water shortages and huge flood waves. It examined all 319 glaciers in the eastern […]

Climate change fuels sharp increase in glacier lakes

by Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The volume of lakes formed as glaciers worldwide melt due to climate change has jumped by 50 percent in 30 years, according to a new study based on satellite data. “We have known that not all meltwater is making it into the oceans immediately,” lead author Dan Shugar, a geomorphologist and associate professor at the University of Calgary, said in a statement. “But until now there […]

Photos taken a century apart show stark Mont Blanc glacier melt

by Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — In 1919 a pioneering aviator took iconic photos of the Mont Blanc glaciers. A century later, a team of experts has recreated the images to highlight the drastic ice melt caused by rising temperatures. Despite an overwhelming body of scientific evidence tracking humanity’s contribution to climate change, it is often difficult to grasp the enormity of a phenomenon that unfolds so gradually. Numerous studies have […]

Swiss couple found on glacier 75 years after disappearance

Geneva, Switzerland (AFP) — A couple who disappeared in the Alps 75 years ago has been found preserved in a receding glacier, ending decades of uncertainty for their seven children, Swiss media reported Tuesday. The bodies were found lying near each other in the Diablerets massif in southern Switzerland, along with backpacks, a bottle, a book and a watch, according to Le Matin daily. The head of the Glacier 3000 ski resort, Bernard Tschannen, told Le Matin that the […]

Doubt over Everest’s true height spurs fresh expedition

NEW DELHI, India (AFP ) — Scientists will take the tape measure to Mount Everest to determine whether a massive earthquake in Nepal really did knock an inch off the world’s tallest peak. India’s top surveyor said Tuesday a team of scientists would be sent to neighbouring Nepal to measure Everest in the hope of putting to rest a debate about the true height of the towering mountain. A deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal in […]