Researcher: Glacier Changes Could Force Relocation of People and Infrastructure in the Alps
After the floods in Nepal, researcher Lamsters warns that warming-driven changes also threaten the Alps. He says both infrastructure and residents may eventually have to be moved.
Changes in glaciers and mountain slopes driven by climate warming could eventually force Europe, too, to relocate people and infrastructure. Researcher Lamsters said this in a discussion of the August disaster in Nepal, stressing that a similar threat affects the Alps.
Recovery continues in Nepal
According to the news agency Associated Press, Nepal's government announced on Monday that search and rescue operations for victims of the devastating August floods have ended. The focus will now shift to reconstruction. On Sunday, 11 October, new flooding in the Budhi Gandaki River led to the evacuation of residents and damage to buildings.
What lies ahead for the Alps
A large share of Alpine glaciers is projected to disappear by the end of the century, though the scale of losses will depend on how much further warming occurs. "We may have to move infrastructure, we may have to move people," the researcher said.
He explained that heat affects both glaciers and rock. Meltwater seeps into cracks and can reach the base of a glacier, promoting sliding. When ice thaws in rock fissures, slope stability can change. However, the general understanding of warming's effects does not yet allow experts to name the cause of a specific landslide. Assessing each slope requires data on its structure and long-term observation.
Lamsters noted that the Alps will not vanish as a mountain range, but the places where it is possible to live, travel and maintain infrastructure safely may change. Relocation is difficult in narrow valleys, since homes and roads are often built wherever there was room for them.
A call to act
The researcher emphasised that even under unfavourable forecasts it makes sense to cut emissions and prepare for change, because slower warming would give more time to adapt. "That does not mean we have nothing to do. Quite the opposite," he said.
