Sunday, March 26, 2023
manilastandard.net
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
manilastandard.net
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Swiss glaciers melting away at record rate

AFPbyAFP
September 28, 2022, 6:40 pm
in News, World News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Email

Switzerland’s glaciers lost six percent of their total volume this year due to a dry winter and repeated summer heatwaves, shattering previous ice melt records, a report revealed Wednesday.

The study by the Cryospheric Commission (CC) of the Swiss Academy of Sciences laid bare the drastic scale of glacial retreat – which is only set to get worse.

“2022 was a disastrous year for Swiss glaciers: all ice melt records were smashed,” the CC said, adding that a two percent loss in 12 months had previously been considered “extreme.”

Three cubic kilometers of ice—three trillion liters of water—have melted away, the report said.

“It’s not possible to slow down the melting in the short term,” said glaciology professor Matthias Huss, head of Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland, which documents long-term glacier changes in the Alps and is coordinated by the CC.

ADVERTISEMENT

If carbon dioxide emissions are reduced and the climate protected, “this might save about one third of the total volumes in Switzerland in the best case”, he told AFP.

Otherwise, the country “will be losing almost everything by the end of the century.”

At the start of the year, the snow cover in the Alps was exceptionally light, then a large volume of sand dust blew in from the Sahara Desert between March and May, settling on the surface.

The contaminated snow absorbed more heat and melted faster, depriving the glaciers of their protective snow coating by early in the European summer.

The continuous heat between May and early September therefore ravaged the glacial ice.

By mid-September, the once-thick layer of ice that covered the pass between the Scex Rouge and Tsanfleuron glaciers had completely melted away, exposing bare rock that had been frozen over since at least the Roman era.

And in early July, the collapse of a section of the Marmolada glacier, the biggest in the Italian Alps, killed 11 people and highlighted how serious the situation had become.

According to an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report published in February, the melting of ice and snow is one of the 10 key threats from climate change.

“The loss was particularly dramatic for small glaciers,” the CC said.

The Pizol, Vadret dal Corvatsch and Schwarzbachfirn glaciers “have practically disappeared—measurements were discontinued,” the commission said.

In the Engadine and southern Valais regions, both in the south, “a four to six-meter-thick layer of ice at 3,000 metres above sea level vanished,” said the report.

Significant losses were recorded even at the very highest measuring points, including the Jungfraujoch mountain, which peaks at nearly 3,500 metres.

“Observations show that many glacier tongues are disintegrating and patches of rock are rising out of the thin ice in the middle of glaciers. These processes are further accelerating the decline,” said the report.

“The trend also reveals how important glaciers are to the water and energy supply in hot, dry years,” the report stressed—something to consider given that hydroelectricity provides more than 60 percent of Switzerland’s total energy production.

The glacial meltwater in July and August alone would have provided enough water this year to completely fill all the reservoirs in the Swiss Alps.

But Huss said that if the country experienced this year’s meteorological conditions in 50 years’ time, “the impact would be much stronger, because in 50 years, we expect that almost all glaciers are gone and therefore cannot provide water in a hot and dry summer.”

The melting of the glaciers has also had some unexpected consequences.

Hikers are regularly making macabre discoveries as bodies are being freed from the ice they have been encased in for decades or even centuries.

The melting can also be a boon for archaeologists who suddenly have access to objects that are thousands of years old.

Meanwhile, the melting of a glacier between Italy and Switzerland has moved the border that ran along the watershed, forcing lengthy diplomatic negotiations.

Tags: glaciersSwitzerland
ADVERTISEMENT
AFP

AFP

Related Posts

Guns, ammo at Teves biz

byCharles Dantes
March 26, 2023, 1:50 am
0
8
Teves gives way to DILG on contested post

Solon’s brod facing illegal firearms raps, but willing to cooperate with PNP Former Negros Oriental Governor Pryde Henry Teves on...

Read more

PSA: Fishers, farmers, rural folk still poorest

byMaricel Cruz
March 26, 2023, 1:40 am
0
8
Fishers told: Swarm the seas

Fisherfolk, farmers, children, and persons living in rural areas remained the poorest sectors in terms of poverty incidence in 2021,...

Read more

Cost-cutting Accenture to cut 19,000 jobs worldwide

byAFP
March 26, 2023, 1:30 am
0
8
Consulting firm Accenture to cut 19,000 jobs in 18 months

Tech consultancy Accenture announced Thursday (Friday in Manila) it will be cutting around 19,000 jobs, or 2.5 percent of its...

Read more

Du30 tops Pahayag poll of possible Senate candidates in 2025 elections

byMaricel Cruz
March 26, 2023, 1:20 am
0
8
Rody wants more time with family after term

n By Maricel V. Cruz If senatorial elections were held today, former President Rodrigo Duterte would top the race if...

Read more

EDCA does not give US troops unlimited access in PH—DND

byManila Standard
March 26, 2023, 1:10 am
0
8
US to demonstrate rockets in Balikatan

The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the Philippines and the United States have built-in protocols and does not allow...

Read more

PCG to boost oil spill containment with Korean help

byCharles Dantes
March 26, 2023, 1:00 am
0
8
PCG ships set for ‘water war’ in WPS

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vowed to heighten its oil spill containment activity in Oriental Mindoro province in collaboration with...

Read more

Print Edition

View More

Recent Posts

  • Guns, ammo at Teves biz
  • PSA: Fishers, farmers, rural folk still poorest
  • Cost-cutting Accenture to cut 19,000 jobs worldwide
  • New international shrine
  • Back to her roots
  • Du30 tops Pahayag poll of possible Senate candidates in 2025 elections
  • EDCA does not give US troops unlimited access in PH—DND
  • PCG to boost oil spill containment with Korean help

Advertisement

Latest News

Du30 tops Pahayag poll of possible Senate candidates in 2025 elections

byMaricel Cruz
March 26, 2023, 1:20 am
0
8
Rody wants more time with family after term

n By Maricel V. Cruz If senatorial elections were held today, former President Rodrigo Duterte would top the race if...

Read more

EDCA does not give US troops unlimited access in PH—DND

byManila Standard
March 26, 2023, 1:10 am
0
8
US to demonstrate rockets in Balikatan

The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the Philippines and the United States have built-in protocols and does not allow...

Read more

PCG to boost oil spill containment with Korean help

byCharles Dantes
March 26, 2023, 1:00 am
0
8
PCG ships set for ‘water war’ in WPS

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vowed to heighten its oil spill containment activity in Oriental Mindoro province in collaboration with...

Read more

House, Senate seek agreement on Cha-cha

byJoel E. Zurbanoand1 others
March 26, 2023, 12:50 am
0
8
House leader graces school fair

Senator Robinhood Padilla on Saturday thanked Speaker Martin Romualdez and members of the House of Representatives for considering discussing a...

Read more

Men and birds go fishing

byRevoli Cortez
March 26, 2023, 12:48 am
0
8
Universal phenomenon

A group of fishermen and a flock of egrets enjoy a good catch of fish during low tide at Barangay...

Read more

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

ABOUT US

Manila Standard

Manila Standard website (manilastandard.net), launched in August 2002, extends the newspaper’s reach beyond its traditional readers and makes its brand of Philippine news and opinion available to a much wider and geographically diverse readership here and overseas.

Digital Edition

In tone and content, the online edition mirrors the editorial thrust of the newspaper. While hewing to the traditional precepts of fairness and objectivity, MS believes the news of the day need not be staid, overly long or dry. Stories are succinct, readable and written in a lively style that has become a hallmark of the newspaper.

Download – Today’s Paper

Search

No Result
View All Result

6th Floor Universal Re Bldg., 106 Paseo De Roxas cor. Perea Street, Legaspi Village, 1226 Makati City Philippines

Trunklines: 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Pop.Life
    • Newsmakers
    • Hangouts
    • A-Pop
    • Post Its
    • Performances
    • Malls & Bazaars
    • Hobbies & Collections
  • Technology
    • Gadgets
    • Computers
    • Business
    • Tech Plus
  • MS ON THE ROAD
    • Sedan
    • SUV
    • Truck
    • Bike
    • Accessories
    • Motoring Plus
    • Commuter’s Corner
  • Home & Design
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Construction
    • Interior
  • Spotlight
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Events
    • Seminars
    • Exhibits
    • Community
  • Biyahero
    • Travel Features
    • Travel Reels
    • Travel Logs
  • Pets
  • Advertise with Us

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Install Manila Standard Web App

Install App