Alarm in the Alps: Permafrost causes mountains to crumble - catastrophic rockfalls and mudslides threaten

Current measurements show: Climate change is heating up the Alps and permafrost is thawing.

This is how mountains become unstable - with unmistakable consequences.

Permafrost in the rock holds mountains together like cement.

This ice can also be found in the German Alps *, namely in the northern Limestone Alps.

The latest data from 2011 to the end of 2020 from the permafrost measuring station on the Zugspitze (2962 m) show that the mountains are heating up significantly and causing the permafrost to disappear.

The more the ice thaws, the more often the rock crumbles.

Experts reckon that part of the high Alps could become unstable.

In the future there will be more frequent rockfalls and mudslides.

Glacier retreat and heavy rain exacerbate the dangers.

"The further increase in ambient temperatures projected until the end of the century suggests that the permafrost on the Zugspitze will disappear from 2040 if the current trend continues," says a brochure published by the Bavarian State Office for the Environment in July 2021.

Permafrost danger: The first mountains are already shaking in Switzerland

A permanent measurement station for permafrost in the rock * was set up on the Zugspitze in 2007 with two boreholes.

Since then, temperature sensors have been collecting the required data every hour.

In Switzerland and Austria, too, there has only been monitoring of alpine permafrost since 1970.

The tip of Stein, a rocky outcrop above Kandersteg in the canton of Bern, shows how precarious the situation is.

It threatens to break.

20 million cubic meters of rock are in motion in the area, said Nils Hählen, head of the natural hazards department in the canton of Bern at the

Smaller landslides are just as possible as major landslides.

Thawing permafrost is turning the world's landscape upside down: new lakes in the tundra

There are now coordinated observation networks around the world that measure and analyze permafrost temperatures.

Because climate change is not only turning the landscape inside out in the Alps.

Worldwide, thawing permafrost is changing the earth's surface.

Climate change is also affecting him in the flat plains of the far north.

In the arctic tundra, warming penetrates the soil.

This so-called "Thermokarst" creates new pools and lakes that accelerate the thawing process.

Permafrost - up to 1500 meters deep

If soils have not thawed for at least two years, we speak of permafrost.

In cold climates and in the high mountains, a thin layer above the ground thaws in summer, but then freezes again in the cold season.

The permafrost can reach a depth of 1500 meters.