Switzerland’s glaciers slowly melt away
The majority of Switzerland's glaciers retreated during 2001, according to official statistics published this weekend.
Published as part of an annual study of the condition of Swiss glacial regions, the figures indicate that 62 of the country’s 73 glaciers melted significantly during the past 12 months.
Andreas Bauder, a Swiss glaciologist from the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, told the Swiss paper, “Neue Zürcher Zeitung”, that the worst affected region was the Trift glacier in the Bernese Oberland, which had retreated by 250 metres during 2001.
Bauder said the condition of glaciers in the Bernese Oberland remained “critical” and that the melting ice could bring with it the possibility of heavy flooding next summer.
Scientists say the retreat of alpine glaciers over the past 150 years is proof that the earth is getting warmer.
Research suggests that Switzerland’s glaciers, which store evidence of change to the earth’s atmosphere over millennia, will disappear if temperatures continue to rise.
swissinfo with agencies
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