I’ve added a new task to my public outreach list: interject additional climate change information into the tour guides’ narrative…As we trek up dry river beds where meters of ice lay a mere 10 years ago, or stand on top of glaciers looking out onto horizons – I add some facts - in a casual way…
The guides seem eager to pick up on it and the tourists become more engaged. Guides have told us that many (especially those they meet from China) have never seen glaciers before and seem clueless about their increased melting….
On one walk Paige pointed out a notch high up along the cliff edge telling us that was where ice steps began so people could descend onto the glacier…
It was at least 20 stories above us - now a rock face lined with shrubs - thirty years ago all ice. That's when begin I begin to add more facts...
Like the fact that a third of the permanent snow and ice on the Southern Alps has vanished in less than four decades. And that scientists have measured that the Alps' ice volume has shrunk by 34 per cent - and those ice losses have been accelerating rapidly in the past 15 years. The walk up to the face has extended dramatically each year and now tourists are no longer allowed to climb up from the face, because the surrounding hill slopes are much less stable.
The increased calving and glacial retreat is impacting the sediment in the glacial valley. Its been reported to have risen by more than a meter (over 39inches) in just the last two years.
The only way to get on top is to fly over and be dropped off by helicopter. Which is what we did the next day after walking the dry river bed, we landed about three quarters up unfortunately in weather much less friendly: cold windy and raining…
It was an arduous trek with a bit of slipping but well worth the effort.
