“Schwarzmilzferner,” the last glacier in the Allgäu Alps, has lost its status following the hot summer. Its thickness has decreased by more than four metres, while the volume of its ice mass has shrunk by approximately half.
“It is highly likely to disappear completely by next summer,” said Christoph Mayer, a glaciologist at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. The researcher and his colleagues have been monitoring the glacier for 26 years.
The Ice Is No Longer Moving
In addition to thickness and volume, the movement of the ice mass is a determining factor in the status of a glacier. In the case of the Schwarzmilzferner, this movement has now stopped. The remaining ice field is located near the border between Austria and Germany, at an altitude of around 2,450 metres.
Since 2016, scientists have recorded significant losses of ice mass. “This trend has intensified even further since 2022. Since then, it has been clear that the glacier's days are numbered,” Mayer said.
According to the researcher, this is not an isolated case. Every year, several small glaciers disappear in the Alps, and the process continues regardless of winter snowfall.
Forecast for the Eastern Alps
“Even with heavy snowfall in winter, ice masses are shrinking rapidly. Summers have become too hot for them,” Mayer said.
If current conditions persist, he expects the entire eastern part of the Alps to be ice-free between 2060 and 2070. The forecast covers a wider region and does not apply only to the Schwarzmilzferner, whose complete disappearance scientists expect as early as next summer.
Source: btvnovinite.bg