Why the glaciers are melting

Climate change is causing temperatures to rise worldwide, including in Switzerland. However, there are many other consequences for our country: for example, it is snowing less and less. Even in the mountains, it is increasingly raining, and even when there is snow, it often doesn't last long. In many winter sports areas, skiing, sledging or snowboarding is almost impossible without artificial snow.

Climate change is also leading to more and more extreme weather events. These include heatwaves and periods of drought, for example. High temperatures can not only cause problems for us humans, nature also suffers from heat and drought.

We all need to blow less climate-damaging exhaust gases into the air!

Another extreme weather event is heavy rain. This means that a lot of rain comes down in a very short space of time. This can cause severe flooding, especially where everything is built up and the water cannot seep away quickly enough.

Many things are irreversible

Researchers have discovered that Swiss glaciers are already shrinking at an accelerating rate and estimate that they will disappear completely, or at least almost completely, by 2100. This will not only change the appearance of our mountains, but will also eliminate important water reservoirs: glaciers «collect» snow and ice in winter and release it as meltwater in spring and summer. Due to climate change, glaciers are less and less able to fulfil this function, which has consequences for our drinking water supply and hydropower plants.

These few examples alone show the different problems that arise as a result of climate change. Many of them can no longer be reversed and we must learn to deal with the changes.

But even if individual adaptations are still possible: It is imperative that we humans tackle the causes of climate change so that the consequences do not become even more severe worldwide: We all need to blow less climate-damaging exhaust gases into the air!