The local ice giants lost an average of 23.9 meters in the 2022/2023 observation period. The Paster ores on the Großglockner and the Rettenbachferner in the Ötztal are particularly negative. The prospects are devastating.
The glacier researchers of the Austrian Alpine Club have observed or measured 93 glaciers in Austria for their current glacier report: 92 retreated in the so-called “fiscal year 2022/23” (mid-August 2022 to mid-October 2023). The Alpine Club announced this frightening result on Friday. The average 23.9 meters that local glaciers have lost in length is not only the third highest value in the 133-year history of the Alpine Club Glacier Measurement Service, but also in the past seven years.
Pasterze with negative record
The Pasterze retreated dramatically and stronger than ever before. At 203.5 meters he has the greatest loss of length of all Austrian long distances. In second place is the Rettenbachferner in the Ötztal Alps with a loss of length of 127 meters, followed by the Sexegertenferner (minus 93.7 m, also in the Ötztal Alps). What’s particularly scary is that maximum withdrawal amounts in 2022/2023 were significantly higher than in the previous year. Among the ten glaciers with the greatest loss of length are no fewer than nine Tyrolean glaciers!
600 million cubic meters of ice melted
“In general, the ‘financial year 2022/23’ was extremely unfavorable,” says Gerhard Lieb, who, together with Andreas Kellerer-Pirklbauer, is scientific director of the glacier measurement service. “A late but very long and warm melting period in 2023 was again the main cause of the extremely unfavorable glacier conditions,” Lieb describes.
The glaciers not only lost length, but also volume. “In total, the mass loss amounts to about 600 million cubic meters of ice,” said Andreas Kellerer-Pirklbauer. “This corresponds to a cube with an edge length of 843 meters – the same length as eight football fields.” According to the experts, the glaciers only exist because of the ice reserves that have accumulated in the past.
For ambitious climate policy
Gerhard Lieb called for an ambitious climate policy for Austria. However, the retreat of the local glaciers can no longer be stopped. “In about 40 to 45 years, our country will be virtually ice-free,” the expert paints a terrifying picture.
The countdown has begun: 40, 39, 38, etc. years, then the previously so-called eternal ice in the local Alps will have completely disappeared. We have somehow already become accustomed to this terrifying prospect of the future; the horror figures in the current glacier report will hardly upset or panic anyone. And quite a few probably still think climate change is an invention.
It is entirely possible that one or two Tyrolean tourism experts attach little importance to climate change and glacier extinction. This would at least explain why glacier ski areas need to be further merged, even if the basis for this will soon no longer exist. You are betting on capital that will be lost in the near future. This can safely be described as negligent.
New ideas and further thinking are needed in tourism. Because the hard and unpleasant facts have been on the table for a long time. Unfortunately, the opposite still happens – almost defiantly – almost everywhere. We are then all presented with the bill.
Time flies, the countdown has begun.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
