Rocky path emerges between Swiss glaciers for 1st time in 2,000 years
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A rocky path appears between the Scex Rouge and the Zanfleuron glaciers in Switzerland, and the ice melt was around three times the 10-year average this year.
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Hikers walk past the newly uncovered path at Glacier 3000 in Les Diablerets, Switzerland, September 11, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Denis Balibouse
A rocky Alpine path between two glaciers in Switzerland is appearing for the first time in at least 2,000 years, according to what a local ski resort, after the hottest European summer on record.
This year's ice melt was around three times the 10-year average, according to the ski resort of Glacier 3000 in Gstaad in Switzerland.
Read: Snow at Austrian Alps melting earlier than ever before
This means that bare rock can now be seen at an altitude of 2,800 meters between the Scex Rouge and the Zanfleuron glaciers and by the end of September, the pass will be completely exposed.
"About 10 years ago I measured 15 metres (50 feet) of ice here so all that ice has melted in the meantime," said the glaciologist at the University of Bern's Institute of Geography, Mauro Fischer, adding, "What we saw this year and this summer is just extraordinary and it's really beyond everything we have ever measured so far."
The glaciologist was actually referring to the speed at which the ice has melted.
Read: Global heating is turning white Alps green, study finds
The Alps have sweltered through two significant early summer heatwaves after last winter season which brought little snowfall. Data showed that the Alps' glaciers are now on track for their biggest mass losses in at least 60 years of record-keeping.
