In Switzerland, due to the extraordinarily high temperatures, the zero-degree limit is rising as high as it was last time in 1995, at 5184 meters above sea level. Glacier researcher Matthias Huss is concerned. He warns that freshwater glaciers are melting faster than ever before.
During the night, the zero-degree limit in Switzerland rose higher than ever before. The measurement broke a 27-year-old record, Meteo Schweiz, the Swiss Federal Office for Meteorology and Climatology, wrote on Twitter.
The zero degree limit is measured with weather balloons. According to Meteo Schweiz, they climbed to 5184 meters until they found the freezing point. That is higher than the highest point in the country, the Dufourspitze (4636 meters) in the Monte Rosa massif. The previous record was measured on July 20, 1995 at 5117 meters.
Switzerland is also experiencing exceptionally high temperatures this summer. Leading Swiss glaciologist Matthias Huss recently warned that freshwater glaciers would be melting faster than ever in this heat.
“The glaciers in the Alps are so completely different from anything we’ve seen before. I’m really concerned about the situation,” he wrote on Twitter on July 17. “The measurements taken today at the Griesgletscher show that we are even a month ahead of the previous record from 2003 with the melt. And no improvement in sight.”