{"id":163488,"date":"2025-06-06T17:22:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T17:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/163488\/"},"modified":"2025-06-06T17:22:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T17:22:15","slug":"swiss-glacier-collapse-exposes-growing-risk-to-mountain-regions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/163488\/","title":{"rendered":"Swiss glacier collapse exposes growing risk to mountain regions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nThe dramatic collapse of a glacier onto the Swiss village of Blatten last week underscores how Europe, as the world\u2019s fastest-warming continent, is becoming an increasingly hazardous place.<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

On 28 May, the Birch Glacier gave way under the weight of rock and debris from avalanches on the Kleines Nesthorn mountain, burying the village of Blatten in Switzerland\u2019s Valais region. Around 300 residents had been evacuated days earlier, narrowly avoiding disaster.<\/p>\n

While the scale of destruction is unprecedented for the Swiss Alps, it is part of a worrying trend. In April 2024, a similar collapse at Piz Scerscen near the Italian border unleashed comparable volumes of debris, though with less damage. In 2022, the collapse of the Marmolada glacier in Italy claimed 11<\/a> lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeveral sites in the European Alps are under active observation as a potential instability is possible,\u201d said Michael Huss, visiting scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL). He told Euractiv that the increasing frequency of such major events \u201cseems to indicate that we will have to deal with more\u201d in the future.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cSuch a mountain and glacier collapse cannot happen only because of climatic factors,\u201d Huss said. \u201cA long-term geological preconditioning is necessary.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\nWhile not yet conclusively proven, researchers say that rising temperatures likely played a significant role by thawing subsoil, triggering rockfalls, and accelerating the glacier\u2019s advance. Huss pointed to warming permafrost and retreating glaciers as key destabilising forces.\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThis leads to a general destabilisation of material at high elevation [and] therefore likely importantly contributed to the present event,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

Although he stressed that events like the one in Blatten remain rare and \u201cexceptional,\u201d Huss warned that the risks are rising. \u201cThe situation is not worsening faster than we thought,\u201d he added, \u201cbut awareness and preparedness are now essential\u201d \u2013 particularly for those who live and work in the Alps.<\/p>\n

Europe not ready<\/strong>
\nLast year, the European Environment Agency warned that Europe is warming faster than any other continent \u2013 and is unprepared<\/a> for the growing climatic risks. Melting glaciers are far from a localised concern.<\/p>\n

\nA recent study<\/a> in Science estimates that, even if countries meet the Paris Agreement target of limiting warming to 1.5\u00b0C, glaciers worldwide will lose about 47% of their mass over the coming centuries. Current climate pledges suggest, however, that the world is on track for 2.7\u00b0C of warming \u2013 unless leaders significantly increase their ambition at the COP30 summit in Brazil later this year.\n<\/p>\n

The European Commission is expected<\/a> to present a proposal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 on 2 July, and has been urging member states to prepare for what is already considered inevitable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the recent Commission\u2019s assessment of the final National Energy and Climate Plans<\/a>, we have underlined that progress in addressing climate resilience and adaptation is uneven,\u201d a European Commission spokesperson told Euractiv.<\/p>\n

\nScaling up these efforts is \u201cparamount,\u201d the official said, adding that a European Climate Adaptation Plan is expected in 2026 to \u201csupport member states in preparedness and planning and ensure regular science-based risk assessments\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

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