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Glaciers are melting at record speed: Schneeferner will soon be gone entirely – heat and Sahara dust are decisive

2022-09-06T11:29:48.915Z


The glaciers in Bavaria are melting - and faster than initially thought. This year, the consequences of climate change became particularly clear.


The glaciers in Bavaria are melting - and faster than initially thought.

This year, the consequences of climate change became particularly clear.

Munich – The summer of 2022 was dry, hot – and generally put a great strain on nature in Bavaria. Rivers at low levels, dried up lakes, forest and field fires and melting glaciers.

The effects of climate change were particularly noticeable this year.

Experts have now determined that the Bavarian glaciers are melting even faster than previously forecast.

Glaciers are melting at record speed: Schneeferner soon disappeared

The ice on the Bavarian glaciers has receded significantly this year.

The Blaueisgletscher, the Schneeferner on the Zugspitze and the Höllentalferner lost significant mass.

Only in the case of the Watzmann glacier in the Berchtesgaden Alps is the shrinkage not so severe.

On the one hand, this is because its size is more difficult to determine due to its location in a depression.

On the other hand, because it is covered by a layer of rubble - it partially protects it from melting, reports Christoph Mayer, glaciologist at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences.

The situation is different with the Schneeferner.

He is the worst affected by the meltdown.

It could be gone by next year.

It may also take another two to three years - but according to Mayer, this glacier will certainly be the first to disappear completely.

(By the way: Our Bayern newsletter informs you about all the important stories from Bavaria. Register here.)

Melting glaciers at record speed: Heat and Saharan dust are decisive

In addition to the heat, the Sahara dust is also particularly hard on the glaciers this year.

This covers the ice and, with its dark areas, ensures that the glaciers absorb more sunlight.

There has been dust from the Sahara that has found its way to Bavaria before, but not with the regularity that was the case this year, for example.

Climate change is to blame.

Due to global warming, the temperature differences between north and south are decreasing, which means that the westward drift is decreasing and the red sand comes more frequently and more strongly to Central Europe.

Indirectly, the melting glaciers are also a factor in making hiking and mountaineering in the Alps more dangerous.

As the stone thaws, it becomes more porous, it breaks off more often, and the terrain becomes less safe.

Only on Monday, September 5th, did a mountain climber die in a fatal accident in Mittenwald.

The fourth death in the region within a short period of time after a Munich mountaineer fell in mid-August and two young climbers lost their lives on the Tiefkarspitze in early June.

(fhz)

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List of rubrics: © Plusphoto / IMAGO

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-09-06

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