Mountain ice melts and secrets die - 17th August 2022

Temperatures are rising in Europe’s mountains. Since 1900, they’ve risen by two degrees Celsius. Scientists are looking at Austria’s Jamtalferner glacier, where the ice is melting faster than ever.

Andrea Fischer, an expert in mountain glaciers, has studied Jamtalferner for 20 years. She’s worried because now there’s no snow there.

Andrea Fischer: "We are now at the beginning of the melting season and there is no more snow. No new substance can be formed. There is only melted snow and therefore it is not sustainable, because to be sustainable it has to be in balance with the climate. And what melts must be refrozen as ice." 

Glaciers like Jamtalferner keep information, like a museum. It can be used to understand the Earth’s climate because the facts show how it’s changed. This is possible because the ice includes pieces of plants, for example leaves. These objects show scientists when the ice grew and also melted. The details let scientists predict the future climate too.

But now, rocks can be seen in the Jamtalferner glacier.

Andrea Fischer: "And these grey surfaces, these rocky surfaces that appear here in the middle of the glacier, were already there two weeks ago this year. They're already more than a metre from the surface, and by the end of the summer, this summer, a lot of the glacier will be gone. All these surfaces, where we already see rocks, will no longer exist at that time."

It’s a race against time. So, experts are making holes into the ice, 14 metres deep. They need to get the ‘museum’s’ information now. But with each day, it becomes more dangerous. Recently, 11 mountain hikers died in Italy when a glacier melted. 

As the glacier melts, nature answers. Over 20 types of plants have appeared where the ice once lay.