Study: Heat wave led to unprecedented melt of Swiss glaciers
Source: Associated Press
Study: Heat wave led to unprecedented melt of Swiss glaciers
By JAMEY KEATEN
September 28, 2022
GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland’s glaciers are melting like never before, an academic study released Wednesday found, with their ice volume declining by 6% this year amid rising concerns about global warming and a summer heat wave that swept across Europe.
The Swiss Academy of Sciences reported that the shrinkage of ice in the country’s glaciers topped a previous record retreat nearly a generation ago.
“2022 was a disastrous year for Swiss glaciers: all ice melt records were smashed by the great dearth of snow in winter and continuous heat waves in summer,” the academy said in a statement.
The academy based its report on data collected by Glamos, the Swiss glacier-monitoring network. Switzerland has the greatest volume of glaciers of any country in Europe.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/science-switzerland-glaciers-heat-waves-57ec5df1c581d88c4925976e0bcba850
FILE --People work on a tarpaulin which cover the ice of the Corvatsch glacier, near Samedan, Switzerland, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. Glaciologists have stopped their program to measure the glacier. The decision has already been taken in 2019 and the hot summer of 2022 has led to "extreme losses of ice" and the end of the program. The covered part of the glacier is used as a ski slope in winter. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP,file)
FILE --Parts of the ice of the Corvatsch glacier are covered with a tarpaulin, near Samedan, Switzerland, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. Glaciologists have stopped their program to measure the glacier. The decision has already been taken in 2019 and the hot summer of 2022 has led to "extreme losses of ice" and the end of the program. The covered part of the glacier is used as a ski slope in winter. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP,file)
