The Stream, October 2, 2024: Swiss Glaciers Melted at Above-Average Rate this Summer, Spurring Record Ice Losses

Glaciers flank the peaks of the Swiss Alps. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue

YOUR GLOBAL RUNDOWN 

• At least 200 people have died in Kathmandu, Nepal, following the heaviest monsoon rains in 20 years.
• One of the large aqueducts that supplies New York City with drinking water will be temporarily closed for repairs.
• Average alpine temperatures exceeded freezing this August in parts of Switzerland, as glacial ice loss broke records.
• Thousands of wildland firefighters are battling blazes outside of Quito, Ecuador, as the capital suffers from its worst drought in 60 years.

In the village of Noatak, Alaska, heavy rains and subsequent flooding are eroding the local riverbank and threatening the city’s water line, prompting a declaration of emergency.

— Christian Thorsberg, Interim Stream Editor

Recent WaterNews from Circle of Blue

• Budget-Strapped Wyoming Towns Race for Federal Funds to Fix Aging Water, Sewer Systems — Dozens of towns that were awarded federal ARPA dollars may see them ‘clawed back’ for lack of resources to complete paperwork.
•  Environmental Groups Face Off With EPA to Control Manure Pollution — Ninth Circuit Appellate Court Hears Arguments to Compel Federal Action

The Lead

The beginning of the year was promising for glaciologists in Switzerland, as heavy winter and spring snows were thought to potentially help slow the loss of glacial mass in the Alps, Reuters reports. But a blistering summer quashed those hopes, as average temperatures for the month of August, even at 11,700 feet, were above freezing. 

Glacial Monitoring in Switzerland (GLAMOS) said that the country lost 2.5 percent of its glacial volume this year, which is above average for the past decade. “It is worrying to me that despite the perfect year we actually had for glaciers, with the snow-rich winter and the rather cool and rainy spring, it was still not enough,” Matthias Huss, director of GLAMOS, told Reuters.

Earlier this year, Europe’s human rights court ruled that Switzerland was not doing enough to curb the impacts of climate change on its glaciers. If the world’s carbon emissions continue to trend as they have, 80 percent of the country’s current glacial mass will be lost by 2100.

This Week’s Top Water Stories, Told In Numbers

35 million

Gallons of water the Delaware Aqueduct, located in upstate New York and in operation since 1944, leaks per day, AP reports. As part of a $2 billion project, part of the aqueduct has now been temporarily shut down and drained — an effort 20 years in the making. The aqueduct as a whole supplies about half of the water used by New York City’s eight million residents, and bypasses have been constructed to maintain supply. Mayor Eric Adams said that the city’s water might “taste a little, slightly different,” but will remain “perfectly safe.”

20

Years since heavier monsoon rains have fallen on Kathmandu, Nepal, where devastating flooding in the city and nearby valleys have killed at least 200 people, the Guardian reports. The Bagmati River, which runs through the city, rose more than two yards higher than what is considered safe, and homes, roads, and bridges were awash with floodwaters. At least 4,000 people have been rescued so far using helicopters and boats, though a lack of emergency housing and drinking water are becoming significant concerns as storms subside. Experts have attributed the heavy rains to climate change, and environmentalists are urging city planners to restore wetlands — natural barriers to flooding — on the city’s edges.

On the Radar

Facing its worst drought in 60 years, roughly 2,000 firefighters and emergency response personnel are battling to control wildfire blazes outside the capital of Ecuador, Al Jazeera reports. Quito, home to 1.7 million people, is the latest city in South America to suffer from a record wildfire season on the continent. According to Inpe, the Brazilian space agency, 346,112 wildfire hotspots across South America have been detected so far, by far the highest since records began in 1998.

Christian Thorsberg

Christian Thorsberg is an environmental writer from Chicago. He is passionate about climate and cultural phenomena that often appear slow or invisible, and he examines these themes in his journalism, poetry, and fiction.