A tragedy like that in the Dolomites can also happen in Austria this summer. Glacier researcher Fischer said: “It is an exceptional situation that has never happened historically.”
After the massive glacial collapse that killed at least six people in the Dolomites in Trentino, northern Italy, Andrea Fischer, a glaciologist at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, sees the real danger of an event of this kind in the Austrian Alps soon. “It is not only possible, but probable that such processes will happen in the Austrian Alps this summer,” Fischer told APA on Monday.
“It is an exceptional situation that has historically never happened before,” explained the renowned Tyrolean glaciologist, alluding to the extremely low amounts of snow at the high altitudes at that early point in time. The Eastern Alps had never been “free of snow up to the top” so early. In addition, “at the same time, the ice cover is already so thin that these remnants of ice can start to move and the entire mass is very strongly water-saturated”.
“There is no more snow up there”
The Dolomites were similarly snow-poor this year as the local Alps, Fischer drew a comparison. “The melting is already very advanced. There is no more snow at the top. The melting is taking place over the entire glacier surface. The upper and steep areas in particular are very thin. The sun warms up the subsoil,” says the expert. This leads to a large-scale formation of cavities. “The ice loses its bond with the ground. The cavities can be filled with water,” the scientist describes the fatal processes and clarifies the consequences: “More or less without warning and the right signs, it then really bursts off.”
As we have seen, these events would reach “very large scales”, because: This mixture of ice, water and rubble, which lies extensively on and in front of the glaciers, can be easily mobilized and has great destructive power”.
Expert advises once morest glacier tours in the high mountains
“Tours in the glaciated high mountains are not advisable,” Fischer emphasized the consequences for mountain enthusiasts. Bridges and hiking trails near glaciers are particularly at risk this year. One should not be below glaciers where falling events can affect one. In general, it is advisable not to be in the sphere of influence of glaciers, so to speak – precisely because of the large ranges. After all, there are also beautiful high-altitude tours in non-glaciated mountains that you can undertake safely – apart from the usual mountaineering risks – the expert advised alpinists to change their leisure time plans.
For Fischer, the current problem undoubtedly has to do with climate change. Two factors would come together in a very unfavorable way this year: the ice surfaces had thinned out so much over several decades that these special forms might have developed, namely the “very thin ice sheets that are undermined”. In addition, the winter with very little snow has been added this year, which has resulted in additional drama.
