The Hallstatt Glacier lost 1.4 meters of ice over its entire area this year. Within 15 years it had decreased by 14 percent – from 3.04 to 2.62 square kilometers, warned Upper Austria’s environmental councilor Stefan Kaineder (Greens). With the new web application “Apptauen” the glacier melt should be made even clearer and clearer. At the address www.apptauen.at you can see how big the glacier was in 1856 and what it will probably look like around the year 2100.
For the Dachstein this year the fifth worst mass balance was recorded since measurements by Energie AG and the Upper Austria. Environment and climate protection departments 15 years ago. Since 2006, the four Dachstein glaciers have been measured annually in a joint research activity by Blue Sky Weather Analyzes and the Institute for Mountain Research (Academy of Sciences).
Kaineder: “Climate research shows us very clearly how unbearably and unhealthy it will be in the summers of the future if we don’t turn the trend in greenhouse gas emissions.” Glaciers are the fever thermometers of our planet and would show us that the planet suffers from a high fever, according to the Environment and Climate Council. “Unfortunately, the warnings were either too little or not heeded. We have been observing the Hallstatt Glacier scientifically for 15 years, and so far the mass balance of the glacier has been negative every year.” (gs)
Source: Nachrichten
