This week the collapse of a glacier in Swiss Alps has underlined the effects of a warming world on the planet’s snow -filled parts.When the melting birch glacier declined on Wednesday, it attacked the picturesque village of Blaton in the southern Wallis region of the country. A mound of debris has closed the road to the Lonza River, which has increased the risk of floods.Glacier and snow sheets store about 70% of the world’s freshwater reserves. High-high areas are often dubbed to the world’s “water towers” because they slowly release melted water in summer, maintaining cities and fields downwards. Researchers say that two billion people rely on glacial melt globally for their day-to-day water needs. Nevertheless, as the world is hot, ice is melting. Glaciers around the world are now melting twice twice, which was measured two decades ago. Between 2000 and 2023, he lost an ice mass equal to 46,000 great pyramids of Giza.And it is affecting communities around the world. Some areas are left with very little water, while others struggle too much.
Glacier is an important freshwater resources
Huraz, a resident of the city of small western Peru, pulled out about 20% of his annual water supply from snow. But Andian Glacier is melting faster than elsewhere. This poses a risk of floods. In a dickadelong trial, a resident of Huraz filed a case against a German energy company from a Mountain Lake at a possible risk of his home, filling up with melted water at a rapid rate.
Maltwater damages infrastructure, makes mountains unstable
It is not only in Peru that huge glacial lakes are formed when the glaciers melt. When they become very full, deadly floods can wash buildings, bridges and wipe fertile land, such as in Pakistan, where a glacier lake burst in October 2023.In the same month, a lake of melted snow was swept away in neighboring India and 179 people died. Scientists estimate that globally, at least 15 million people are unsafe for sudden floods with snow, most of which are living in India and Pakistan. Since 1990, the amount of water in the lakes of the mountain has increased by about 50%.The collapse of the birch glacier in Switzerland created a landslide of rock and ice, which covered most of the 300-fighter village of blast in mud. Although the residents were evacuated as a precaution, a man missing what scientists have called the latest dramatic example of the effect of climate change on the Alps.
Reducing water supply for agriculture, electricity generation
As the glaciers shrink, they eventually reach a threshold – which is known as peak water – on which the runoff falls. As a result, with potentially far -reaching consequences, low meltwatters flow down. Low water supply has forced local farmers who traditionally grive corn and wheat, so that they could change both their crops and water management. Some communities in the Andes have now switched to increase the diversity of a bitter potato that is more flexible for drought. Unstable water supply is also preventing power generation. In Chile, 27% of the electrical power is generated by hydroelectric dams that seriously depend on multawatters. In 2021, the Alto Mapo plant was closed due to declining flows.
The ice sheets that increase the sea level melt
It is not only a glacier in high height that are melting, but also in the sea, such as thwites glacier in Western Antarctica. This frosty is the size of the veteran American state of Florida and has been considered “very unstable”. Scientists have said that it is melting on all sides.The melting of sea ice contributes to the rising level of the sea. Some researchers have said “suddenly” what the thwights glacier has been called “Doomsde Glacier” for its possible impact. sea level rise,Over the last 25 years, Glaciers melting The global sea level has been increased by about 2 cm (0.7 inches). This may not look too much, but the lower islands such as Fiji and Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean are at risk of disappearing under the waves.In addition, more than 1 billion people in megacity like Jakarta, Mumbai, Lagos and Manila live within 10 kilometers (about 6 mi) of the coast. The protective dike is only a temporary solution, as the sea level keeps rising.
Snow traditions in danger
Glaciers also have spiritual and cultural significance.Every year, thousands of pilgrims gather in one of the holiest glaciers of Peru for a religious festival.In the past, snow blocks were carved from glacier and taken to local communities that believed in their healing properties. But as the glacier disappears, this ancient tradition is in danger.
Low snowfall for alpine ski resorts
A popular destination for the skier, Prisna Glacier in Italy, allegedly lost a third of its volume since 1990. And in European Alps, the natural snow is expected to fall by 42% by the end of the century. Scientists estimate that many ski resorts worldwide will not be profitable in future.
Warning system and artificial glacier can help
Local people may be compatible with some of these threats. In the Pakistani village of Hasanabad, an initial warning system has been established to monitor the activity in the nearby Shisper Glacier. What warnings should be required, it can be communicated through external speakers in the village. Neighbors in Ladakh region, researchers are experimenting with growing Artificial glaciers that can reduce the lack of water in summer to meet this challenge. But these strategies can only work up to one point. The scientist says that the best way to deal with glaciers is to slow down the rising temperature to heat the earth.
