Glacier patrols depart from Zermatt to Vevey
Famed Glacier Patrol has good weather
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Glacier Patrol race is on. The PdG, as it is known for its French acronym, is a long-distance endurance race that takes place every two years across the 53km of glaciers, summits and passes between Zermatt and Verbier. A shorter 26km version covers the peaks between Arolla and Verbier.
The three-person patrols compete in male, female and co-ed categories. Traditionally, race participation was restricted to military personnel, but civilians are now welcome. Most of the patrols take 12 hours on average to complete the race, although top athletes finish in almost half the time.
Greenland glacier from the air (photo E Wallace, October 2009)
Greenland’s ice mass is melting at a quicker pace than previously believed and consequently adding more water to the oceans, reports Science magazine 13 November. The increased run-off will cause the sea-level to rise by more than was estimated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 2007 projection for 2100.
Altogether some 1,500 gigatonnes of ice melted between 2000 and 2008, the researchers say, contributing about 4.1 millimetres to sea levels. The ice melt is equally divided between increased run-off and precipitation on the one hand, and ice dynamics, meaning faster-moving glaciers, on the other. Since 2006 ice melting in Greenland has accelerated and contributes 0.75mm per year to the global rise in sea levels.
New measurements have allowed the team of researchers led by Michiel van den Broeke of Utrecht University in the Netherlands to quantify more precisely the sources of the melt since 2000. Several warm summers have increased the melting of the ice mass faster than can be fixed during the winters by snowing and refreezing.
The scientist confirmed their data using GRACE, a space-based system that detects subtle changes in the earth’s gravitational field due to shifts, such as ice-melt, in the earth’s mass. BBC, TSR
Bern and Sion, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Southeastern Valais will continue to have five small airfields high in the Alps, the Federal Council has decided as part of the country’s sustainable development review of mountain airstrips. Landing and takeoff altitude and seasonal restrictions will be put in place as part of the approval process. The Federal Aviation Office has outlined the new system, after months of study and consultations with groups that included environmentalists, tourism offices, local residents and heli-skiing fans. Four of the five exist already, but one, Unterrothorn, will disappear and be replaced by a new airstrip in the Trift region near Zermatt, which will be a base for heli-skiing. The airfields are used by mainly by pleasure craft.
Aletsch glacier in canton Valais, Nov. 2007
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss glaciers lost 12 percent of their volume in the past 10 years due to increased temperatures, almost a quarter of that in one year alone, 2003, reports TSR. The volume of ice lost in 10 years is almost 9 cubic km.
