Why melting glaciers affect us all
SWI swissinfo.chOct 11, 2022
The remains of a 38-year-old German climber, who went missing near Switzerland's iconic Matterhorn Mountain 37 years ago, have been recovered.
The discovery was made earlier this month by climbers who came across a hiking boot and crampons peeking out of the thawed ice while hiking along the Theodul Glacier in Zermatt.
The melting of glaciers has consequences much more significant than the discovery of long-lost climbers. Around half of the glaciers in the Alps are in Switzerland, where temperatures are rising by around twice the global average. If nothing is done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, all glaciers in Switzerland and Europe risk melting almost entirely by the end of the century.
Almost every summer, the melting ice of the Alpine ice field uncovers things or people lost decades ago and creates an opportunity for archaeologists to expand their understanding of how mountain life has changed through the millennia. Who knows what else lies beneath the melting mountain landscapes, waiting to be discovered?
There's a 50% chance that the Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf will collapse by January 2027, according to the Metaculus prediction community.