A mountain in Sweden, the Kebnekaise, has reduced its height by almost two meters at its southern peak since last year due to rising temperatures, according to Stockholm University. Is about the lowest height ever recorded on the southern peak of the Kebnekaise since measurements began in the 1940s.
This last calculation has reported a total of 2,094.6 meters high, almost two meters lower than a year ago, on August 7, 2020, when an altitude of 2096.5 meters above sea level was recorded. The measurements have been carried out by researchers at the Stockholm University station in Tarfala.
“The decrease of the peak and the change in appearance of the drift can be explained mainly by a increased air temperature, but also by changing wind conditions, which affects where the snow accumulates in the winter, ”says the statement from the University of Stockholm.
The north peak, higher than the south peak
During the summer of 2018, researchers at the Tarfala Research Station determined that the northern peak of the Kebnekaise was higher than the southern peak, so far the highest point in Sweden. In this way, the altitude of the northern peak registered 2,096.8 meters above sea level, which is formed by mountains and therefore it is stable.
“The variation in height is, therefore, a good symbol of the glaciers’ response to the warming climate in Sweden. When hikers climb to the top today, they pass a flat part, a “pre-peak”, which did not exist in the early 2000s. Since 2020, the peak is 2.2 meters lower, but the “pre-peak” has grown to 1.2 meters”Says Per Holmlund, professor of glaciology, at the Tarfala Research Station site for further measurements.
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