Shrinking glaciers
The melting of Switzerland’s glaciers has been observed for many years. Since the end of the Little Ice Age around 1850, the volume of glaciers in Switzerland has decreased by more than half. As temperatures increase, glaciers melt faster and precipitation falls more often as rain than as snow. When glaciers melt, the important “glacial reservoir” of the water balance changes.
At the moment, glaciers are not in equilibrium with the current climate conditions. Were the climate to remain as it is today, the glaciers would continue to shrink over the next several decades to half of their current volume. However, experts expect an increase in temperature of 3°C by the year 2085 (plus or minus one degree). This warming will have severe repercussions for Swiss glaciers: according to models, only 20 to 30% of the current glacier volume will remain by 2100. Most of the remaining glacier volume will be in the Rhone catchment area, thanks to the largest glacier in Switzerland, the Aletsch.
Events, News, Publications
Gletschervorfelder: Neuland mit Potenzial
Gletschervorfelder entstehen beim Rückzug von Gletschern. Sie umfassen eine grosse Vielfalt an geomorphologischen Formen und Lebensräumen, welche von Pionieren besiedelt werden. Aufgrund ihrer Vielfalt und Dynamik stellen sie besonders wertvolle Ökosysteme dar. Mary Leibundgut gibt einen Überblick über die Bedeutung der Gletschervorfelder und stellt Instrumente zu deren Schutz vor. Stuart Lane zeigt, wie der Klimawandel die Sukzession in Gletschervorfeldern beeinflusst.
Image: Mary LeibundgutExcursion of the Swiss Young Geomorphologists (SGmS)
Rock stability and the preservation of technical and tourist facilities at the Jungfraujoch : challenges around infrastructures in a rapidly changing glacial and periglacial environment
Image: SSGmInterview mit Marin Kneib auf RTS
Anlässlich der Auszeichnung mit dem Prix de Quervain 2023 durch die Akademien der Wissenschaften Schweiz hat Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) am 24. Oktober 2023 ein Interview mit Marin Kneib ausgestrahlt.
Image: Marin Kneib