Glacier under pressure: Austria's ice giant melt rapidly!

Glacier under pressure: Austria's ice giant melt rapidly!

Heiligenblut, Österreich - The dramatic decline of the glaciers in the Alps is alarming. According to a report by ORF.AT, the glaciers in Austria, especially the Pasterze, the largest layer of ice in the country, have lost massive size and volume in recent years. Within a single year the Pasterze retired 66 meters and lost height seven meters. Andreas Kellerer-Pirklbauer from the University of Graz describes the enormous dimensions of this loss: "Imagine an ice cube with an edge length of about 230 meters, which has melted in the past year alone." This is further evidence of slowing down the glacier decline, which could lead to a complete disappearance of the glaciers in Austria in a few decades if the current trends last.

alarming forecasts

The situation affects not only the paster, but also other glaciers in the region, including the Sonnblickkees and the Kälberspitzkees, which have also suffered considerable loss of length. The researchers warn that the glaciers in Austria will have disappeared in 40 to 50 years, unless drastic measures are taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to Gerhard Lieb, a glacier researcher, the glaciers in the Alpine region are "unstoppable", which also draws international attention to the need for a strong climate policy to slow this process, he emphasizes, while the United Nations declared the year 2025 for the international year of glacier protection.

In a deeper context, glaciers are not just about their impressive size and the beauty of their landscapes. Glaciers store about 70 percent of fresh water on earth and are crucial for regulating the global climate. The glaciers make a decisive contribution to the water supply of many rivers and act as significant influencing factors on the climate conditions worldwide, as Wikipedia reports. The melting glaciers could lead to a significant increase in sea level in the future, which would particularly endanger deep -lying countries.