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
Lebanese Ministry of Health: One person was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a car in the town of Burj Qalawieh, south Lebanon.
Al Mayadeen correspondent: The first ship of the Maghreb fleet delivering aid to break the siege on Gaza departs from the port of Gammarth in Tunisia.
Channel 12: Airspace closed at Ramon Airport due to fears of drone infiltration
IOF Spokesperson: Sirens sounded over an aircraft infiltration in the Bir Ora area, and details are being examined
Drone infiltration sirens sound north of the Gulf of Aqaba
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The Israeli occupation carried out five extremely violent raids on the western areas of Gaza City
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The Israeli occupation carried out major bombings in the Gaza Strip, the most violent since October 7
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree: The missile force carried out a major operation using the Palestine 2 ballistic hypersonic missile, hitting several targets in occupied Yafa.
Sirens sound in large areas of occupied Palestine after a missile launch from Yemen was detected
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: 14 martyrs arrive at al-Shifa Hospital following Israeli massacre of al-Sultan Family north of Gaza.

Austrian scientists race to reveal melting glaciers' secrets

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 7 Aug 2022 10:28
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

The damaged building in the Katara neighborhood, Doha, Qatar, September 9, 2025 (Social media)

Hamas delegation survives Israeli assassination attempt in Qatar

  • Politics
  • 9 Sep 2025
Israeli police and rescue teams respond at the scene of a shooting attack where several people killed and injured in Jerusalem, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025 (AP)

Al-Quds shooting: 7 settlers killed, several critically injured

  • Politics
  • 8 Sep 2025
Pro-"Israel" conservative Charlie Kirk shot during Utah speech

Pro-'Israel' far-right Charlie Kirk shot dead during Utah speech

  • US & Canada
  • 11 Sep 2025
Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza.

Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza

  • Politics
  • 12 Sep 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
People protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York, on Friday, September 27, 2024 (AP)
Politics

'Israel' stops unfunded diplomacy ahead of UN, October 7 memorial

An Israeli Air Force fighter jet releases flares over the Gaza Strip, is seen from southern occupied Palestine, Thursday, May 8, 2025 (AP)
Politics

OIC summit draft: Israeli attack on Qatar risks normalization

People shout slogans and hold Palestinian flags while protesting during the twenty-first stage of La Vuelta cycling race from Alalpardo to Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP)
Sports

Pro-Palestine protests force abrupt end to Vuelta a España finale

Damage is seen after an Israeli strike targeted a compound that hosted Hamas' political leadership in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday, September 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Israeli regime faces growing isolation over Qatar strike: Reports

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