APD | Switzerland losses 5 percent of glaciers in last five years

By APD writer Aditya Nugraha

GENEVA, Oct. 16 (APD) - Switzerland encountered an unprecedented pace of glaciers melting as it has lost 5 percent, or a tenth of its glaciers, in the last five year.

It was something that had never happened in more than a century, according to an annual study published by the Cryospheric Commission at the Swiss Academy of Sciences on Tuesday.

The intense heat waves during the summer in Switzerland had dashed hopes that winter would limit the glacier melt this year, according to the study.

The commission said that snow cover on the glaciers was between 20 and 40 percent higher than usual in April and May, with depths of up to six meters measured in some places as late as June.

“The volume of snow and ice melting on Swiss glaciers was equivalent to the country's total annual consumption of drinking water during the two weeks of intense heat at the end of June and again in late July,” the commission said in a statement.

It has led to quicker disappearance of snow layer as the melting continued until September.

It means that over the last 12 months about 2 percent of Switzerland’s total glacier volume has been lost, indicating that the rate of glacier loss in the last five years has exceeded 10 percent, the commission said.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)