Satellite images appear before and after a troublesome ice loss in the Swiss Alps

The European Alps covers more than 600 miles (1000 km) across eight European countries, and its cold upper parts include thousands of ice rivers. Unfortunately, NASA’s satellite images have recently acquired 40 years of slope in the largest part of the ice in the Alps, the Glish Glish.

The photos – taken below, which were taken in 1984 and 2024 – were taken by theme MAPPER for Landsat 5’s nasa 5, respectively. The changes are evident in the length and width of the ice rivers, which reflects a decline of more than 4,300 feet (1300 meters) in those forty years.

According to the Earth Observatory NASA ReleaseThe ice rivers were also diluted at the time – to about 141 feet (43 meters) of water, based on data from the Swiss ice Ice network (Glamos). In other words, its mark decreased in both dimensions.

Despite some cloud covering in the latest image, ice loss is clear. As the ice once reflects bright white to return to the air, there is more gray gray rocks under it. According to NASA, it was very early in the year to take pictures of icebergs without seasonal snow covering the amount of ice melting that occurred in the decisive years.

The icebergs Alps retreat across the blackboard. The nearby Oberaleetsch Glacier has declined more than 787 feet (240 meters) since 1984, and FieScher Glacier has declined during the same amazing time period at an altitude of 3,281 feet (1000 meters).

According to the Reuters report Published Late last year, Swiss ice rivers melted at a rate higher than average in 2024, despite thick snowfall in winter and spring. Winter storms were not simply sufficient to face standard ice losses in the face of the warm August – and even a dose of desert desert dust, which made it difficult for Swiss ice sheets to reflect sunlight again in the air.

In 2024, Swiss icebergs lost 2.5 % of their size, according to Reuters. Central Europe, including Switzerland, lost 39 % of the ice ice between 2000 and 2024, as a team of researchers I mentioned In nature this year.

NASA photos put these changes in sharp comfort. Exit from a warm record February – Third attachment On the registry, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – there is real (and expected) that we likely see more ice losses in the near future.