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WEATHER

Swiss glaciers continue to shrink despite heavy snow in 2021

A mild summer and a snowier than usual winter failed to help Switzerland's glaciers, which continue to recede.

This file photograph taken on August 25, 2021, shows a view of the Aletsch Glacier. Swiss glaciers lost 1percent of their volume in 2021 despite abundant snow and a cool summer, due to climate change, the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences revealed
Swiss glaciers lost 1percent of their volume in 2021 despite abundant snow and a cool summer, due to climate change, the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences revealed. This file photograph taken on August 25, 2021, shows a view of the Aletsch Glacier. Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP

Switzerland’s glaciers are continuing to shrink as a result of climate change, even if snowfall was heavy this year and the summer comparatively cool, a top scientific panel said on Tuesday.

“The volume of Swiss glaciers decreased by almost one percent in 2021, in spite of plentiful snow in winter and a pretty cool summer,” the Cryospheric Commission of the Swiss Academy of Sciences said in a report.

“In terms of weather, the conditions were right in 2021 to give the glaciers a breather,” the report said.

“Unfortunately, in times of climate change, even a ‘good’ year is not good enough for the glaciers: The loss of ice continued, albeit at a slower pace, despite abundant snow in the winter and a comparatively cool and mixed summer weather.”

The snowfall was heavier than usual in May, the panel said.

READ MORE: What will the ski season look like in Switzerland this year?

On the Claridenfirn mountain of 2,890 metres (9,500 feet), seven metres of snow fell — the most since observations began in 1914.

“Nevertheless, the melt had been considerable by the end of September, and throughout Switzerland some 400 million tonnes of ice had been lost over the last 12 months, almost one percent of the remaining glacier volume.”

The Swiss glacier monitoring network, GLAMOS, documented ice loss on all 22 glaciers, the scientists said.

“Although the losses were smaller than in recent years, no gains were recorded for any of the glaciers,” the report said.

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SKIING

Two skiers killed in Swiss avalanche

Two cross-country skiers have been killed in an avalanche near the plush resort of Klosters in southeast Switzerland, police said Saturday.

Two skiers killed in Swiss avalanche

The accident happened on Friday, the Graubunden regional police said.

“In the Schintersiten area they took a slope with a steep gradient,” a police statement said.

“Several avalanches broke out and dragged the two men about 200 metres down the rocky terrain.

“As a result, both the 54-year-old and his 57-year-old companion, both of whom lived in the canton of Bern, were fatally injured.”

The Graubunden public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation alongside the cantonal police.

Before Friday’s accident, 12 people had lost their lives in avalanches in Switzerland since October 1 last year, according to statistics from the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research.

A total of 142 avalanche-related accidents have occurred, with 188 people swept away.

Earlier this month, six cross-country skiers went missing in a storm near the southern luxury resort of Zermatt. The group, aged 21 to 58, included five members of the same family.

Five bodies were recovered and the search for the sixth person was ultimately called off.

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