2022 is a record year for the Hallstatt Glacier – in a negative sense. The glacier on the Hohen Dachstein has never lost so much ice since measurements began 16 years ago: According to calculations by Blue Sky weather analyses, the loss of ice thickness was over six meters in some cases.
The fact that the ice melted so much this year is due to the lack of snowfall in spring and persistently high summer temperatures, as meteorologist Klaus Reingruber explains.
At the end of August there was only snow at the glacier summit at 3000 meters. Only “thin ice” is left on the glacier tongues, as Reingruber says. Since the start of the research project in 2006, which is funded by the state’s environment and state department, the glacier has lost a total area of 112 soccer fields.
If the glaciers continue to lose more mass in summer than they can gain in winter, a tipping point will soon be reached, says Reingruber: Then less water will flow into the valleys. “Mountain springs could dry up,” warns environment and climate councilor Stefan Kaineder (Greens). The “transience of the eternal ice” shows the effects of climate change, Upper Austria needs “a rethinking and an effective climate and energy strategy as soon as possible”.
Source: Nachrichten
