Swiss scientists have done a historic reconstruction of Switzerland’s glaciers, and found that over 50% of the glacial areas disappeared between 1931 and 2016, and they warn that another 12% disappeared between then and now.
Swiss researchers from the ETH Zurich technical university and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL used a vast trove of over 21,000 photos taken between 1916 and 1947 to reconstruct the topography of glacial Switzerland as it was in 1931, chosen as a median reference point.
They point out that while there have been some periods of glacial growth in the 1920s and 1980s, the past century has been one of overwhelming glacier retreat, and it is accelerating.
