The picture shows what was once the highest mountain in Scandinavia.
In 1917, Glittertind was 2,481 meters high. Today, the mountain is 2,452 meters high.
– It is 29 meters less, points out glacier archaeologist Lars Holger Pilo, who leads the safeguarding programme Secrets of the Ice in Innlandet county municipality.
The glacier that was on top of Glittertind, and which gave the mountain its record height, has melted away in just over 100 years, and according to Pilo, the same fate awaits the remaining glaciers in the country.
– In a way, Glittertind illustrates what we are getting into. Because even if we succeed in cutting all emissions, most Norwegian glaciers will disappear during this century, he says.
Pilo says that the glaciers in question are 6,000-7,000 years old.
– Ice melting has been accelerating in recent years. All the glaciers with a few exceptions are now melting, and they are not disappearing as a result of natural causes, he says.
– Band-aids on the terminally ill
Researchers have previously estimated that the world’s glaciers have lost over 260 billion tonnes of ice per year in recent decades. Going forward, it is expected that development will accelerate, in line with global warming.
In a climate report, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) writes that the world’s glaciers have melted at such a dramatic pace in 2022 that it is almost impossible to save them.
Brea archaeologist Pilo shares the gloomy verdict.
– Attempts have been made to save glaciers from melting by placing a tarpaulin over them. For me, it will be the same as treating a terminally ill patient with a band-aid, he says.
Researcher: – Possible threat in Norway
Many discoveries
As a glacial archaeologist, he, as he says himself, “paradoxically benefits from the melting of the glaciers”.
– We are making lots of exciting discoveries now. It is therefore important when we tell stories about this to those who follow us, to emphasize that there is a gloomy background to all the findings, says Pilo.
On their websites, Secrets of the Ice has published images of another glacier, which has undergone dramatic changes in a few years – Storfonne in Jotunheimen.
– It is approximately 30 per cent of what it was 20 – 25 years ago. It has retreated an incredible amount, says Pilo.
REDUCED: Storfonne in Jotunheimen, Oppland in September 2014. The bright parts are areas where the ice has melted away during the last 15 years. Photo: Lars Pilø, Oppland County Municipality. view more
– Have lost
In the Alps, the melting of ice last year surpassed anything previously observed.
WMO chief Petteri Taalas says many of the glaciers in mountain areas will disappear. The reason is the large amount of CO₂ that has already been released into the atmosphere.
– We have already lost the battle against the melting of the glaciers. We have released so much into the atmosphere already, especially CO₂, and it will take decades to phase out this trend, says Taalas, according to NTB.
2023-09-06 21:08:50
#mountain #peak #shrunk #metres
