The flames of warming in the Swiss Alps! According to a recent study, the rapid melting of glaciers from 1850 to 2016 created 1,200 new lakes near the Swiss Alps. The study, conducted by the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, was published on July 19, 2021.
Researchers initially estimated that the number of lakes created by glacier melting would be limited to a few hundred. They were shocked to see that the number had exceeded one thousand. According to Daniel Odermat, the head of the research team, 160 lakes have been created in the last one decade alone.
The Swiss Academics of Science has also raised the issue of glacier melting in the Swiss Alps. The results of their published annual survey show that glaciers have shrunk by two percent in just the past year. If this continues, environmentalists are worried about how terrible the situation is going to be! This is because the melting of glaciers will cause the sea level to rise on one side, along with many coastal areas and islands to sink into the sea.
A 2019 study by Reich’s ETH Technical University found that two-thirds of the alpine glaciers could melt in the near future if global warming rates could be controlled in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement.
An assessment by the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology found that the formation of glaciers in the Swiss Alps increased dramatically between 1948 and 1973. At that time an average of eight Lakes were being built every year. After that it decreased a bit. But between 2006 and 2017, an average of 16 Lakes are being built every year. During this time the annual water level in the area has risen to 400 square meters.
The research agency warned that the way in which one lakes and water level has risen after another is not going to rule out the possibility of massive floods in the region in the coming days. And if that happens, the whole town will be in danger.