Alpine winters are dying. Since the 19th century, average temperatures in the Alps have risen by 2 degrees C, or 3.6 F—about twice the global average. An article in Nature reported that glacier thinning rates in the European Alps were also twice the global average. Snow is arriving later in the season and melting sooner. According to data analysis of more than 2000 weather stations, the Alps as a whole have lost about a month of snow cover. This means that up to 90% of the European Alpine glaciers will be gone by 2050. Switzerland’s Trift Glacier is a case in point. They used to walk on the glacier itself. But, since 2004, tourists walk across a suspension bridge to visit it, several hundred feet above the glacial meltwater torrent. Hundreds of feet have melted away in a matter of decades.
Glaciologist Dr. Felix Keller is a scientist working to slow the melting of the glaciers. He has found initial success using technology to create snowfall on glaciers using a complex snow cabling system.
Jazbec and his team followed Dr. Keller and others in their efforts to save glaciers in the Swiss Alps.Photographs from this series appeared in a National Geographic feature and were the subject of a short documentary film.