Nearly 90% of Blatten, a town in Switzerland, was buried by a mixture of rock, mud, and ice on Wednesday afternoon as the Birch Glacier collapsed. Due to a geological alarm, all 300 residents were successfully evacuated. Geologists and climatologists stressed that this was not your typical natural calamity. The event, now referred to by experts as a Swiss glacier collapse, has heightened urgency around alpine climate risks.

Alarming Swiss Glacier Collapse and Permafrost Thaw in the Alps

Scientists attribute the collapse to climate change, particularly global warming, which makes the Alps’ glaciers more unstable. Rising temperatures are disrupting the permafrost, or frozen earth, that typically stabilizes mountain slopes and speeding up glacier melt. Swiss glaciologists say rising temperatures destabilize permafrost, which functions as “glue.”

According to data, the volume of Swiss glaciers decreased by almost 10% between 2022 and 2023, and by an additional 2.5% in the most recent year. The Alps have warmed by around 2°C since 1900, double the world average, resulting in a 50% decrease in glacial mass. Rock faces and glaciers are held together by permafrost, which is found above 2,500 meters and frozen for at least two years. There is a far higher chance of landslides, rockfalls, and Swiss glacier collapses as it thaws.

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Natural Processes Also Under Scrutiny

This is not the first instance of this kind in Switzerland. A similar catastrophe happened in Brienz two years ago, while a landslide in Bondo in 2017 claimed the lives of eight hikers. While many experts point to climate change as the leading cause, some contend that crumbling hillsides and other natural geological processes might also play a role. In addition to destabilizing the landscape, the thawing permafrost releases greenhouse gases, which feed back into the warming process.

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