One of the many problems connected to global warming is that previously frozen areas are suddenly thawing. One small Swiss town felt these effects as a glacier, suspended above their homes for thousands of years, slipped free, turning the small town to rubble.
The glacier careened down the valley, with the small Swiss town directly in its path. The unstoppable slew of rock and mud overwhelmed the dwellings and destroyed at least 90% of the buildings.
Thankfully, as a precaution, almost all of the residents had been evacuated earlier in the month. Residents had been warned of the impending melt and ensuing landslide. However, one 64-year-old man remained, and is now missing, presumed to be underneath the rubble.
Stephane Ganzer, the head of security in the southern Valais region, spoke to her local TV channel about the tragic event. “What I can tell you at the moment is that about 90% of the village is covered or destroyed, so it’s a major catastrophe that has happened here in Blatten,” she said.
The population of around 300, as well as livestock, had been evacuated. Experts had warned that the glacier was likely to collapse and completely engulf the small Swiss town.
Melting Glaciers Raise Concerns Over Rising Global Temperatures
This is not the first glacier-related disaster in recent times, the crushed Swiss town is just one of many. As glaciers melt in rising temperatures, rock, ice, and water held back by them are released. This causes many issues for people below them, including floods, landslides, and even a tsunami in one case in Peru.
Glaciers are watched closely as temperatures threaten their stability. However, their collapses can be incredibly sudden, resulting in multiple deaths. An enormous piece of the Marmolada glacier in Italy’s Dolomite mountains collapsed in 2022, killing 11.
“The instability of these glaciers is a real and growing problem, and there are thousands and thousands of people who are at risk,” a glacial expert from Ohio University told AP News. “It’s amazing sometimes how rapidly they can collapse.”
The risk of being crushed, as the small Swiss town was, by a glacier is only a part of the problem. Many of these huge formations also provide drinking water and agricultural support for populations. As they disappear, entire communities’ sources of water are lost.
There is little to nothing we can do to stop them from happening. As time goes on, these situations will become much more common.