Up to 4,000 glaciers per year are at risk of disappearing due to climate change. Swiss researchers show this in a new study. At least half of all glaciers worldwide will no longer exist by the end of the century.
Switzerland is also affected by melting glaciers, including the Aletsch Glacier.Image: Greenpeace Germany
With the study published on Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, the researchers wanted to draw attention to the fact that glacier retreat is more than just a scientific problem. “Each individual glacier can be crucial locally. It can be a cultural monument, an important tourist destination or a symbol of regional identity,” said study lead author Lander Van Tricht from ETH Zurich when presenting his study to the media.
The disappearance of a small glacier with a small contribution of meltwater could have a major impact. Therefore, unlike previous studies, it is important not only to analyze the glacier volume and the area that glaciers cover, but also to focus on the number of glaciers themselves.
In the new study, the researchers therefore asked the question: “How many of the approximately 200,000 glaciers on earth today will still exist in the future?”
Four out of five glaciers gone
The answer to this question depends on how severe global warming will be. With a temperature increase of 2.7 degrees – the global warming that the world is heading towards with current climate measures – four out of five glaciers worldwide would disappear.
If global warming were limited to 1.5 degrees – as aimed for in the Paris Climate Agreement – half of today’s glaciers would be preserved. In a worst-case scenario with global warming of 4 degrees, only one in ten glaciers would remain by the end of the century. “These contrasts illustrate how ambitious climate policy can make a significant contribution to the preservation of glaciers,” the researchers wrote in the study.
Already 1000 glaciers gone in Switzerland
According to the study, in regions with many small glaciers, such as the Alps and the Caucasus region, the glaciers disappear first. Larger glaciers in regions such as Greenland and Antarctica are disappearing more slowly.
The Helheim Glacier in Greenland.Image: EPA
By mid-century, between 2,000 and 4,000 glaciers will disappear each year, depending on rising temperatures. According to researchers, around 750 to 800 glaciers worldwide are currently disappearing every year.
“In Switzerland we have already lost over 1,000 glaciers in the last three decades,” explained glacier researcher Matthias Huss, who was involved in the study. Four out of ten glaciers in this country have already disappeared. “They were mainly small glaciers, most of them didn’t even have a name.”
Funerals for Glaciers
“In recent years, funerals for glaciers have been organized in all parts of the world,” Huss added. For him, this shows what profound meaning a glacier can have.
The Pizol Glacier in 2019.Image: AP
He himself took part in the funeral of the Pizol Glacier SG in 2019. More than 250 people set out to pay their last respects to this glacier. “It was impressive for me to see how many people were interested in this small glacier that I had been surveying for so long,” said Huss.
A glacier is considered disappeared if its area falls below 0.01 square kilometer or its remaining mass is less than one percent of its original mass. (sda)
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