Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Da Silva: What is happening in Gaza is not a war, it is a genocide
Da Silva: Even the Jewish people do not want this war; it is revenge by a government against the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state
Brazilian President Lula da Silva: What we are seeing is not a war between two armies. [What we have is a] completely professional army that is killing women and children in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas: We affirm our readiness to immediately begin a round of indirect negotiations to reach an agreement on the points of contention
Hamas: We welcome the continued Qatari and Egyptian efforts to end the war waged by the Zionist occupation against our people
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Israeli occupation forces blew up Noura Al-Kaabi Hospital, designated for kidney dialysis patients, in the northern Gaza Strip
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Israeli drone targets a car on the Ayta al-Shaab-Debel road in southern Lebanon
Yemeni Armed Forces Spokesperson Yahya Saree: The remaining airlines that have not yet complied with the ban are urged to take this into serious consideration to ensure the safety of their aircraft and passengers
Yemeni Armed Forces Spokesperson Yahya Saree: The YAF, after successfully imposing a partial ban on air traffic at Lydd Airport, are now working to impose a full ban on air traffic at the aforementioned airport in the coming period
Yemeni Armed Forces Spokesperson Yahya Saree: YAF's UAV Unit carried out three military operations targeting three vital Israeli sites in the occupied Palestinian areas of Yafa, Isdud, and Umm al-Rashrash, using three drones

Austrian scientists race to reveal melting glaciers' secrets

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 7 Aug 2022 11:28
3 Min Read

Ice and snow are melting at unprecedented rates and Austrian scientists are racing to save valuable scientific data

  • x
  • Austrian scientists race to reveal melting glaciers' secrets.
    Austrian scientists race to reveal melting glaciers' secrets.

Scientist Andrea Fischer, who is jumping from rock to rock over a brook produced by Austria's Jamtal glacier, is concerned that valuable scientific data would be irreparably lost as the snow and ice melt quicker than ever.

"I couldn't have imagined that it would ever melt as dramatically as this summer... Our 'archive' is melting away," the glaciologist said. 

Fischer, vice head of the Austrian Academy of Sciences' Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research, has spent more than 20 years searching for the oldest regions of ice in Jamtal and four other Alpine glaciers across Austria's highest summits.

Such ice formations represent a unique time capsule dating back thousands of years for scientists seeking to reconstruct the Earth's climate in the distant past.

Read next: Snow at Austrian Alps melting earlier than ever before

According to Fischer, glaciers contain a unique treasure mine of data because as they expanded, the ice encapsulated twigs and leaves, which can now be carbon-dated.

Scientists can deduce when ice accumulated during colder periods or when milder conditions led it to melt based on the age of such material and the depth at which it was discovered.

However, glaciers are swiftly melting, including one in the remote and narrow Jamtal valley, not far from where tourists discovered the magnificently preserved 5,300-year-old mummy of Oetzi, the Iceman, in the 1990s.

According to the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps, temperatures in Europe's highest mountains have risen by about two degrees Celsius in the last 120 years, nearly doubling the global average (CIPRA).

The 4,000 glaciers in the Alps have since become one of the most visible manifestations of global warming.

Disappear completely

According to Fischer, the Jamtal glacier has been losing roughly one meter (three feet) of its surface each year, but this year it has already lost more than a meter.

"And we've got at least two months of summer left... where the glacier is entirely exposed to the sun," she warned. 

Snow typically shields glacier ice from the sun until September, but the little snow that fell last winter had already melted by early July.

Read next: Global heating is turning white Alps green, study finds

"This year is outrageous compared to the average of the past 6,000 years," Fischer said.

"If this continues, in five years, Jamtal glacier won't be a glacier anymore."

By the end of the summer, Fischer anticipates that nearly seven meters of depth – or roughly 300 years of climatic "archives" – will have melted off the surface.

'My heart is bleeding' 

The Alpine Club is already conducting a "Goodbye, glacier!" tour through the once-ice-filled valley in Galtuer, the nearest village to Jamtal with 870 residents who are primarily dependent on tourism, to raise awareness about the effects of climate change.

Scientists discovered that where the ice has retreated, roughly 20 types of plants, predominantly mosses, had taken over within three years. According to Fischer, larches are growing in some regions. Today, the ice is a 90-minute hike away.

  • Jamtal glacier
  • Melting ice caps
  • Austria

Most Read

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive to a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington (AP)

Rift widens: Trump, Netanyahu clash in heated phone call over Iran

  • Politics
  • 26 May 2025
US judges quietly consider private security amid Trump tensions

US judges quietly consider private security amid Trump pressures

  • US & Canada
  • 25 May 2025
An Israeli army vehicle moves in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern occupied Palestine, Thursday, May 29, 2025 (AP)

Hamas rejects Witkoff ceasefire plan, says alters terms

  • Politics
  • 29 May 2025
Spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announces a new operation against Ben Gurion Airport on May 29, 2025 (Yemeni Military Media)

Yemen announces successful hypersonic missile strike on Ben Gurion

  • Politics
  • 30 May 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
MIT bans class president who gave pro-Palestine speech
US & Canada

MIT bans class president over pro-Palestine speech

Arab ministers condemn Israel 'ban' on planned West Bank visit
Politics

Arab ministers condemn Israeli ban on planned West Bank visit

Major General Hu Gangfeng, Vice President, National Defense University, People's Liberation Army, China, leaves after a panel discussion during the 22nd Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Politics

China blasts Hegseth, calls US top 'troublemaker' in Asia-Pacific

US activists demand shutdown of Musk's 'dirty' supercomputer: Reports
Technology

US activists demand shutdown of Musk's 'dirty' supercomputer: NBC News

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS