Swiss glaciers are rapidly losing snow and ice amid the extreme heat that has gripped Europe. According to scientists' forecasts, by Monday all the snow and ice accumulated over the past winter will have completely melted. This is reported by Euronews citing the Swiss glacier monitoring program GLAMOS, as conveyed by UNN.
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Experts note that after this, every subsequent warm day until October will directly reduce the volume of glaciers.
This year, the so-called "Glacier Loss Day" has arrived significantly earlier than the average. In over two decades of systematic observations, this has happened only once before - on June 26, 2022. On average in the 21st century, this threshold occurred only in mid-August.
Glaciers could almost disappear by the end of the century
GLAMOS program head Matthias Huss emphasized that the current rate of ice melt is unprecedented.
We are observing simply colossal rates of ice and snow melt across the entire Alpine region
According to him, glaciers are currently ahead of the normal melt cycle by about three months.
Compared to a healthy state of glaciers, we are about three months ahead of the norm
Experts explain that this year, about 25% less snow fell in the Alps than the average over 2010–2020. Additionally, anomalously warm May and June led to premature snow cover melting. The dark ice left exposed absorbs significantly more solar heat, further accelerating the melting process.
Scientists warn that if current warming rates persist, by 2100 only insignificant remnants of ice may remain from Swiss glaciers.
This week, temperatures in some parts of Europe exceeded +40°C, leading to hospital overload, disruptions in transport and energy infrastructure, as well as causing human casualties in several countries.
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