In 1900, the Pasterze Glacier in Austria was displayed on a postcard. It’s changed a lot since then, and how it has changed says a lot about our world. The glacier was measured in 1851 and again in 2008. It had lost half of its mass by then.
The glacier is shrinking at an alarming rate.
According to the backpacker.com:
“Pasterze Glacier is the longest glacier in Austria, at 8.4 kilometers long. Lying directly beneath Mount Grossglockner, the country’s highest mountain, Pasterze is accessible from the High Alpine Road, as well as via a cable railway, and a walking trail. ‘Pasterze’ comes from the word ‘Pastirica,’ from the Slovenian word for ‘shepherdess.’”
While the glacier is still a popular tourist attraction, where many people come to hike and take photos, few know how big it used to be and how much it has shrunk in just a few years. There are signs displayed near the glacier that show where it once reached.
Measurements done in 2014 and 2015 show that the glacier’s size was reduced by 177 feet in just one year.
People who visit the glacier can see the ice dripping, and many of them choose to take photos. While these photos are beautiful, they are also sad and a bit alarming. The glacier melts a little more each day, and soon, there won’t be anything left of it.
According to a European Environment Agency report:
“The average temperature in the Alps has increased 2 degrees Celsius in the last 100 years — double the global average.”
The glacier paints a pretty scary picture about climate change.
The question is, can it be stopped? What happens if it continues to melt at this rate? There won’t be anything left for hikers and photographers to enjoy.
So, what can be done?
According to UNFCCCC,
“The Paris Agreement signed in December 2015 commits 197 countries, including the U.S., to take steps to limit future global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius. While it may be too late for the Pasterze glacier, if we really commit as a world, we might be able to stop ourselves from sinking whole countries and turning Miami into a swimming pool and stuff like that.”
Hopefully, the melting glacier will draw the attention of those in power.
Some government officials deny that global warming is a problem or even a real occurrence. So, how do they explain the shrinking glacier?
Other people, however, are quick to point out that the glacier might be the best way to raise awareness of the problem.
Dark Tourism recently posted about the glacier, saying:
“Climate change is one of the most pressing (and equally depressing) as well as the most all-encompassing problems in the world today, one that could quite possibly change the civilized world of humans on this planet for ever. In that way it’s probably the potentially ‘darkest’ theme to be entered here of them all.
“However, most aspects of climate change are either too gradual to be visible, or so temporary (as with storms and floods) that no specific sites could qualify for entry in these dark tourism listings as regular destinations.
“Glaciers are a notable exception, where the effects of global warming are becoming more and more visible over time. Obviously, there are many glaciers (Switzerland, admittedly, has the very longest and most famous one: the Aletschgletscher) some of which are even more severely affected, but what makes the Pasterze glacier special is a) its accessibility and b) the way its degree of shrinking can be experienced in a “touristy” way.”
Hopefully, the people who visit the glacier will appreciate it and spread the word that it is shrinking quickly. Something needs to be done to protect this beautiful piece of ice that so future generations can enjoy it.
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