Sept. 28 (UPI) — Switzerland’s glaciers have melted at a record rate in 2022, according to a report released Wednesday through the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network, which is a “disastrous year. “
Multiple points contributed to the melting, adding heatwaves in Europe and mild winter snowfall in 2021-22, according to GLAMOS, an organization established through the Cryospheric Commission of the Swiss Academy of Sciences.
Glaciers are regularly part of the year through a layer of snow. But dust blowing from the Sahara desert may have caused the snow to retain more heat from the sun and therefore melt faster this year. The immediate melting of the snow canopy meant that in summer, Swiss glaciers were exposed to exceptionally hot and dry weather conditions.
Many of Switzerland’s smaller glaciers have disappeared.
The previous record for melting glaciers in Switzerland was recorded as a heat wave in 2003.