Birch Glacier caused an avalanche of ice, snow, water and rocks as the cutting edge collapsed
Jean-Christophe Bott/Epa-Efe/Shutterstock
Most of the Swiss Alps glaciers broke from the mountainside, with rocks, mud and ice crashing into the village of Blatten.
Authorities have warned for weeks that the Birch Glacier could collapse as cracks appeared in the ice. Earlier this month, villagers and livestock were evacuated from Bratten. Bratten is located in a valley below the glacier and is home to about 300 people.
Webcams and drone images from 28 show the vast plumes swirling through Alpine Valley as the glacier collapses, with huge waves of mud and rock covering the hillside and much of the village.
A press conference held in a nearby village on May 28th revealed that one person is reported missing, but no casualties were reported. The village of Bratten is currently buried mainly under the tiled rubber. The glacial collapse caused a 3.1 earthquake on the Richter scale, according to seismic data.
Images from the site suggest that in addition to the village, huge strips of forests have also been destroyed, blocking the nearby Lonza River, increasing the risk of flooding into the area.
“Nature is stronger than people. People in the mountains know that. But today we went through an extraordinary event. This event left us speechless and it’s shocking to see the images.” According to Swiss outlet brick.
Alpine glaciers are becoming more unstable as global temperatures rise. In Switzerland, glaciers lost 10% of their amounts only between 2022 and 2023, official statistics show.
Melting the glacier causes rock collapse, avalanches of rock and ice, causing debris to flow into the valley below. Research suggests Due to climate change, small rock falls and landslides are increasing in the Alps.
However, he says further investigation will be needed before he can explain exactly what happened in Blatten. Mylène Jacquemart In Eth Zurich, Switzerland, it involves examining how many of the glaciers have been broken and why. “Obviously, events like Bratten. – At this point, a complex process cascade is performed. – It’s incredibly rare and quantifying changes to them is not easy,” she says.
Jack Mart adds that it is difficult to detect changes in the frequency and severity of huge landslides.
“The changes that climate change is induced in alpine areas (increased melting water, reduced snow covering, warm temperatures, and more rainy precipitation than snow) are unfavorable for rock stability,” she says. “But did this happen without climate change? Perhaps it is. The fundamental question of hazard management is whether there is a significant change in the frequency with which certain events occur. Do events that occur every 10 years suddenly occur?
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