Climate Change Drives Lose of Over Half of Alps Glaciers Volume

(MENAFN) A veteran French glaciologist has issued an urgent warning that Alpine glaciers have hemorrhaged over half their total volume since the late 1800s, underscoring the relentless advance of climate change across Europe's towering peaks.

Sylvain Coutterand delivered the sobering assessment during an exclusive interview with media chronicling dramatic transformations reshaping France's Alpine territories—from shifting ecosystems to altered human settlement patterns.

Coutterand painted a vivid picture of environmental upheaval unfolding across the mountain range.

Reflecting on summer trips during the 1970s and '80s to Les Houches—a village nestled in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region near Chamonix—he described regular precipitation cycles arriving every second day, sustaining high-altitude snowpack and enabling glacial expansion.

Contemporary conditions tell a drastically different story. Temperature spikes register with particular intensity at elite ski destinations including France's Chamonix and Switzerland's Zermatt. "Climate change is felt more intensely in the mountains than elsewhere," Coutterand said.

Weather monitoring in the Alps extends back to the 1880s. "Since the end of the 19th century, the glaciers have lost more than 50% of their volume," he noted.

Alpine ice masses commenced their withdrawal from Little Ice Age peak positions around the mid-1800s, interrupted only by temporary stabilization or minor re-advances across multiple regions during the 1890s, 1920s, and 1970s-1980s, glaciological research confirms. Lower-lying and diminutive glaciers have already vanished completely.

'Disappearance of glaciers is happening now'
"The disappearance of glaciers is happening now," Coutterand said. "According to models, iconic glaciers like the Mer de Glace could vanish between 2060 and 2080. We are fully in the era of climate change, with no end in sight."

Projecting forward, he forecasted critical complications for hydroelectric generation and nuclear reactor cooling systems as water volumes dwindle.

The Chamonix Valley faces particularly acute water scarcity threats once glacial reserves evaporate entirely.

"Within 100 years, few glaciers will remain in the Alps, limited to the highest peaks like Mont Blanc or Monte Rosa," Coutterand warned.

Coutterand revealed that melting ice is disrupting regional plant life, creating conditions where parasites infiltrate trees and devastate forest stands, noting that mature spruce specimens throughout the area are perishing and withering.

Bark beetles colonizing these trees initially consume outer bark before attacking core timber, the glaciologist explained.

He emphasized that aggressive greenhouse gas reductions could still preserve the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets.

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