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Die in Europa....weer [boodskap #20658]

Wo, 03 Februarie 1999 00:00

ferdinand
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^MELTING GLACIERS MAY RUIN SWISS TOURIST INDUSTRYe
^The alpine glaciers just go on melting and melting, to thee
point where at the last count Swiss experts discovered that four ore
five of them have retreated considerably. It is a trend that hase
accelerated since the beginning of the 1990s and if climate changee
remains unchecked, there are only about 20 or 30 years left to viewe
the splendour of Swiss glaciers. Skiing in the Alps could also soone
be a thing of the past. "Last year was particularly extreme," saide
Swiss glaciologist Martin Hoelzle of the Federal Technical Collegee
in Zurich. "In August we had a metre of meltage at 3,300 metres Ze
it hasnÂt happened like that since 1966." The phenomenon evene
affected the neve areas where the snow normally does not melt ine
summer. Glaciers are permanent ice fields but are subject toe
constant change through fresh snowfall and melting. Swisse
economists estimate that if the climate remains as it is for thee
next 50 years the damage will amount to up to 3.2 billion Swisse
francs (2.26 billion dollars) a year. "Winter tourism will suffere
terribly if winter sports can no longer be held in the lowere
regions," said BerneZbased economic scientist Ruedi Meier. Meiere
believes the lost revenue alone could amount to a staggering 2.1e
billion Swiss francs a year quite apart from the fact that thee
alpine scenery bereft of glaciers would lose its appeal for manye
visitors. Higher temperatures would also bring more bad weather,e
warmer and drier summers along with decreased yields from foreste
agriculture. "Shrinking glaciers in themselves are not a disastere
for people but precipitation on the moraines could lead toe
avalanches of mud and scree," said Hoelzle. The alpine glacierse
have been on the retreat for more than 150 years. "In 1850 we stille
1,800 square kilometres of glacier, today it is a third less," saide
geographer Max Maisch of Zurich University. Since 1850 the averagee
global temperature has risen by 0.6 degrees centigrade. If thee
projections of climatologists are accurate, the earth will gete
warmer by 1.8 degrees over the next 50 years and 3 degrees over thee
next 100 years. "That means that in 50 years time half thee
glaciers will have vanished, in 100 years 90 per cent will bee
gone," said Maisch. There are around 3,000 glaciers in the Alps,e
1,800 of them in Switzerland alone. The largest Alpine glacier ise
located in Valais canton and measures 24 kilometres in length. Overe
the past 150 years it has retreated by ten per cent. The lateste
negative record has been set by the Fee glacier near the resort ofe
Saas Fee. It shrank by 111 metres last year. Such melting is not ae
reaction to the mild winter in most of southern continental Europe.e
"It takes 20 or 30 years before the big glaciers react to climatee
change," said Hoelzle. He said the soZ called glasshouse effecte
otherwise known as global warming may be the culprit. "We muste
take measures to at least reduce the greenhouse effect," saide
ViennaZbased meteorological professor Helga KrompZKolb. "Thee
repercussions are going to be much more dramatic in alpine regionse
than on the plains."e
^SapaZDPAe