2023-10-17 09:11:00
Scientists from the Universities of Lausanne, Bern and Zurich have developed a unique simulation which allows you to visualize in 80 seconds the last 120,000 years of the evolution of glaciers in the Alps. This computer model illustrates the speed of current climate change in comparison with the long period of glaciations.
The last ice age began around 115,000 years ago and was punctuated by cold and warmer cycles, causing glaciers to advance and retreat. The new computer model makes it possible to reconstruct this evolution, with a precision never before achieved, UNIL announced in a press release on Tuesday.
This visualization, which can be understood by a wide audience, is the result of long-term work carried out jointly by glaciologists, climatologists and geologists from the three Hautes Ecoles. The research was published in the Journal of Glaciology.
Complex model
The model integrates for the first time complex modeling of past climate, details the press release. Glaciologists then transformed these data into glacial extension, making it possible to understand the distribution of snow precipitation and the dynamics of glaciers.
“Due to the sophistication of the modeling, it took us six years to adjust our climatic and glaciological models, and finally obtain the right glacier climate which corresponds to what we observe in reality,” explains Guillaume Jouvet, from the Faculty of Geosciences and the Environment of the University of Lausanne (UNIL), cited in the press release.
The traces left on the ground, such as moraines or erratic blocks, however, do not allow us to verify the model beyond 24,000 years ago, a period when the glaciers were at their maximum. Because this glacial maximum destroyed previous evidence.
Global warming
The new simulation provides a better understanding of the past interaction between climate and glacier and how our landscape was formed. It provides a global context for global warming. “Past cycles, caused by the Earth’s orbital variations, have nothing to compare with what is happening now, where greenhouse gases play an active role in the melting of the ice,” adds Mr. Jouvet.
The scientists will now work to improve the resolution of their model, which is not fine enough to properly reproduce the complex topography of high mountains. A new stage has just started, using artificial intelligence to achieve a resolution of 200 meters.
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