Switzerland senses new climate change

The Aletsch glacier in Switzerland is the largest glacier in the Alps but scientist are wonder if it is going to stay that way with the predicament of global warming shrinking this beautiful ice river.

Acorrding to Swissinfo.ch the glacier spans more than 23 kilometers and is up to 900 meter thick in some parts, it really is a aw-inspiring site.

From the village of Fiesch in the Rhone valley you can take a cable car over the river and up to Eggishorn where you are rewarded with a breathtaking view of the Aletsch glacier 2,500 meters below. The river can be seen from start to finish where it's mouth opens flowing into one of Europe's major waterways, the Rhone River.

It is at the mouth of the river where most of the action is happening and scientists are buzzing around taking measurements. The scientist are measuring the receding glacier which they refer to as the tongue. It is by measuring this tongue that scientist can check how much the ice is melting and the effect that global warming is having on this frozen river. Measurements are carried out by the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) and they have calculated that the glacier weighs 27 billion tons and is getting smaller at the mouth.

Andreas Bauter, a glaciologist at the ETHZ told swissinfo.ch. On such a huge glacier as the Aletsch, the tongue reacts very slowly.

“The impact of occurrences in the lower parts of the glacier can quickly be seen at the tongue, but it takes about 50 years for signals from the Jungfraujoch to show up there,” he explained.

Overall, he explained that retreat in the ice tongue is due to the climate change from global warming.

More and more people around the world are seeing the effects of global warming. Action must be taken now before it is too late.