ZURICH - Glaciers in Switzerland again retreated last year, a study showed on Wednesday, in a sign global warming is taking its toll on one of the country's scenic features.
The Trift glacier in the canton of Berne had receded 216 metres in one year alone, being hardest hit by rising temperatures. Out of 91 glaciers being observed, 84 had retreated. Only seven had remained unchanged.
Not only did glaciers lose length, their volume also diminished. The height of three glaciers closely studied in the survey had shrunk by between 70 centimetres and 1.7 metres, predominantly through a lack of snow last winter.
Melting glaciers pose a threat to Switzerland's thriving winter sports industry and one ski resort started wrapping part of its shrinking ice-cap in a giant blanket last year to try to reduce the summer melt.
Scientists predict that global average temperatures will rise by between one and six degrees Celsius this century. Even a rise of three degrees could result in rising sea levels because of melting snow and other natural disasters, they say.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
