Hundreds gather in Switzerland to hold funeral for disappearing glacier lost to global warming

[mystery-ak]

Hundreds gather in Switzerland to hold funeral for disappearing glacier lost to global warming
By Owen Daugherty - 09/22/19 05:41 PM EDT

Hundreds gathered over the weekend to climb a mountain and hold a funeral for a dwindling glacier in Switzerland being lost due to the impact of climate change.

About 250 people hiked up to the glacier on Sunday and held a funeral as a priest gave a speech to commemorate the disappearing ice, according to CNN. Many in attendance were dressed in formal, black funeral attire.


CNN reports the Pizol glacier in the Glarus Alps has lost roughly 80 to 90 percent of its volume since 2006, according to Matthias Huss, a glacier specialist at ETH Zurich university.

Huss told the news outlet there are only 26,000 square meters of ice left in the glacier and it will be the first glacier in the country to be taken off the Swiss glacier surveillance network.



more
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/462534-hundreds-gather-in-switzerland-to-hold-funeral-for-disappearing

[Applewood]

 

[XenaLee]

Um...... ok, I'll ask.

Why does the world need another glacier?   
What's the big deal about one glacier going away? 
These people do know that the world is still thawing from a previous ice age, right?
These people also do know that in summer ice melts and then in winter it re-freezes, right?
And last, but not least, what real and/or good purpose does an intact glacier serve?   (all rhetorical, natch)

[Wingnut]

People are born stupid.  Some more than others and they never recover.

[dfwgator]

Imagine how people must have felt back when the glacier was expanding.

[DB]

What Exactly Is Interglaciation?

Interglaciation is the term used by geologists to refer to the alternating periods of warming and cooling in the Earth's past. In cooler times, termed 'glacial periods,' the glaciers and ice shelves from the arctic slowly creep southward and spread across the Earth; for example, at the height of the last glacial period (about 18,000 years ago), glaciers covered North America as far south as the Ohio River! However, in between these periods the Earth is far warmer, causing the glaciers to melt and recede northward. These are referred to as 'interglacial periods.' We are currently in an interglacial period, since approximately 12,500 years ago. Though the period itself is currently unnamed, most geologists refer to the time period from 12,500 years ago up to present day as the Holocene epoch. To better understand interglaciation, let's examine a rough timeline of Earth's ice ages and our current one.

https://study.com/academy/lesson/interglaciation-definition-lesson-quiz-on-the-interglacial-period.html