Even though this winter was cold and the spring wet, Andreas Kellerer-Pirklbauer, head of the Alpine Club’s scientific glacier measurement service, expects the glaciers in Austria to continue losing mass and length this year. Their retreat also poses a direct danger to people walking on them.
Every year, the so-called area managers draw up a glacier report for the approximately 90 glaciers in Austria – for 133 years now. At the weekend, these volunteer glacier researchers from the Alpine Club met for a specialized conference. The program also included a presentation of measurement methods for an excursion to the Hallstatt and Schladming glaciers.
Glaciers consist only of ice reserves from the past
Meanwhile, an average annual glacier retreat “of more than 20 meters in length is unfortunately not unusual,” Kellerer-Priklbauer said. There is no glacier in Austria anymore “that has a breeding area that even comes close to preserving the existing ice mass. The Austrian glaciers only exist thanks to the ice reserves that were built up in the past.”
Native glaciers will disappear by 2070
Cold and precipitation at the beginning of the year cannot change this if, like last year, a summer with “critical heat periods” is followed by a warm, dry autumn, Kellerer-Pirklbauer explains. He illustrates the situation with the melting of an ice cube. When you take it out of the freezer, it takes a while for it to thaw. This is also the case with glaciers; a short period of colder and wet weather cannot stop the slowed down process. He expects that the Austrian glaciers will have melted completely by 2070 at the latest.
Cracks and crevices become dangerous after retraction
But glacier retreat is also dangerous for humans, he pointed out, pointing to another problem. The surface develops cracks, crevasses widen or tongues break off. Kellerer-Pirklbauer, who is also responsible for the glacier area around the Pasterze in Carinthia, said this would make walking on it risky. For example, Austria’s largest glacier can only be measured because “we can use the mountain rescue rope bridge”. The glacier flow has now swollen to a “raging river”, making it impossible to cross.
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.
