Austrian Alpine Club report finds most monitored glaciers retreating and showing signs of disintegration
The Facts
- The Austrian Alpine Club’s latest glacier report says glaciers in Austria continue to shrink significantly in length, area and volume.
- In the 2024/2025 measurement period, 94 out of 96 glaciers monitored by the Austrian Alpine Club retreated.
- The average retreat reported for the monitored glaciers over the period was about (or more than) 20 meters.
- The Alpeiner Ferner and the Stubacher Sonnblickkees were cited as among the most affected glaciers, each retreating by more than 100 meters.
- The report says disintegration of the glacier tongue is progressing at the Pasterze, Austria’s largest glacier.
- Scientists quoted in coverage of the report say some Austrian glaciers are entering a phase of structural disintegration, not only shrinking in length.
Context
Who produced the findings and what period do they cover?
The findings come from the Austrian Alpine Club’s glacier report covering the 2024/2025 measurement period, based on monitoring of 96 glaciers in Austria stern.de,U.S. News & World R….
What do scientists mean by glaciers “disintegrating” rather than just retreating?
Scientists involved in the monitoring describe “structural disintegration” as changes such as exposed rock ledges, sections of ice breaking away, and glacier tongues collapsing in on themselves BBC,BBC.
Which glaciers were highlighted as seeing especially large changes?
The report highlighted large retreats at the Alpeiner Ferner (Tyrol) and Stubacher Sonnblickkees (Salzburg), each reported as retreating by more than 100 meters, and it also noted ongoing disintegration at the Pasterze, Austria’s largest glacier ZEIT ONLINE,U.S. News & World R….
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Independent coverage (43)
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