Melting Away

The climate change is real, it is man-made, and it is also causing glaciers retreating almost everywhere around the planet. Since 1994, the approximate total world glacier loss per year, is 400 billion tons!

The warm Medieval period lasted for approximately 500 years – from the beginning of the 800s to the start of the 1300s – when an abrupt reduction of terrestrial temperature took place in the northern hemisphere. This 'Small Glacial Era' had a short lifespan, geologically speaking, and stretched out towards the middle of the 19th Century. In effect, from 1300 onwards, there was a gradual advancement or 'birth' of glaciers which previously had almost totally shrunk or even completely melted. They had reached a maximum expansion towards 1850 when temperatures once again started to increase and ice started to melt.

This periodic swing of glaciation and meltdown divides scientists. Initially, it was thought that the 'Small Glacial Era' was a global phenomenon but it has currently been the subject of debate. For example, the reconstruction of average temperatures of the northern hemisphere in the past 1000 years does not appear to show a pronounced drop in temperature. From the data gathered, it appears that in this period the average temperatures have only dropped by about 1°C. The debate on this drop in temperature, as well as the previous medieval warming, still remains open and has not been concluded. The point is that the warming phase is currently underway and if no change takes place, several glaciers will very shortly disappear.

Living in southern Switzerland I have easy access to the Swiss Alps. I spent my childhood holidays in the mountains, especially near the Rhône glaciers, the oldest glacier of the Alps. One of the most memorable and breathtaking spots was the ice tongue that, undisturbed, went down through the mountains. I felt a surge of emotion as I remembered it and how it was in the past. Nowadays a great part of it has vanished and just the marks on the land remain where it once was.

To prevent and slow down the melting process, a very small part of the Rhône glacier is covered with hundreds of insulating white blankets.

What’s happened now in our planet is the result to postpone the problem of climate change year after year. We have this heritage from the past generation, we get it worst and we will give it to the future generation if we don't act right now seriously!