Austrian Glacier Balance Winter 2012/13 show mass increase .

[4wd]

Nor was there ice flowing over him for centuries, if it had his body would have been ground to pieces.

He was in a 'still' pool of ice in a depression, while the glacier mass moved a few feet above the remains.

[jethro]

The ammunition find would suggest that conditions during the years of WW1 were similar to today, perhaps the measurements taken in recent years, were actually establishing a baseline based on a particularly snowy period in history? This would give a picture of modern ice/snow loss more dramatic than it perhaps maybe. Carinthian, what does the local history of that area say about the WW1 era?

[knocker]

I appreciate this isn't relevant to one particular area but covers Central Europe so may be of some interest.

 

Glaciers are found in the European Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Caucasus Mountains. Central Eu-rope has the greatest number available of length change and mass balance measurements, with many long-term data series.

 

http://www.grid.unep.ch/glaciers/pdfs/6_5.pdf

[carinthian]

The ammunition find would suggest that conditions during the years of WW1 were similar to today, perhaps the measurements taken in recent years, were actually establishing a baseline based on a particularly snowy period in history? This would give a picture of modern ice/snow loss more dramatic than it perhaps maybe. Carinthian, what does the local history of that area say about the WW1 era?

 

Thanks for your interest in the subject. The Austrian Alpine Club have been recording annual measurements on all Glaciers in Austria since around 1885. On a wider scale many Central European Glaciers have been observed as follows :

 

Period  1885 -1925   record very little changes to Glaciers growth, but measurements greater than any recorded period since.

 

Period  1925-1965   most Central European Glaciers in slow gradual retreat.

 

Period  1965-1985   most show a slow advance ( correction period )

 

Period 1985 -1995  most show start of faster retreat .

 

Period 1995-  2012- Rapid Retreat,

 

Hope this helps.

[carinthian]

  Good  picture today of The Hohe Tauren Range in the background as viewed from Katschberg Mountain. Gross Glockner and its associated glaciers can be seen top of picture just right of centre. Snow level this afternoon 1800m.

 C

[Gray-Wolf]

Wouldn't the ammo from the alps fighting in WW1 have been dug back into recesses for both protection and storage? Are we not seeing 'ice bunkers' melt out of the snow?

[carinthian]

The Spring results are now in. The Austrian Spring was -0.4C below the average, only the coldest since 2006. However, very wet with large snowfall and rainfall totals

recorded. The 7th wettest since 1858. In the news this week, June has continued with a massive rainfall total recorded in Lower Austria and widespread flooding around the river systems.

Although the Spring season was not as cold as it felt, compared to other parts of Europe further north including the UK, it was one of the dullest on record. The overall  pattern of weather systems have been in reverse with low pressure systems developing in the Balkans and moving NW in the Alps and mixing with the colder air from the north to produce the large precipitation totals.

Obviously a lot of this precipitation was snowfall above 2000m and into the Glacier Regions where the increased snow mass has been observed. Whence the weather settles down we will be able to evaluate the present situation on the glaciers.

The weather looks like improving for a few days with a slow rise in pressure and  temperatures but the overall trend is for the present unstable conditions to continue with further low pressure systems to form under the blocking further north.

C

[oldsnowywizard]

Hi carinth it would be good to hear any updates on the glaciers? From my side of the alps the snow line kept quite low very late on in the year but now seem to have gone.. ( my side being what I can see from Zurich ... Certainly from the luzern side I can still see snow when the clouds have gone but I can't see much difference between this and last year

[carinthian]

Hi snowywizard,

 

You live in switzerland ? Yes, similar to here with the early summer snow retention now truly gone. Funny enough will be making a visit to Gross Glockner glaciers in September. Fear that the decline will still be progressive after a hot summer spell and high upper air temperatures in the Karten region.

 

cheers

 c

[carinthian]

Hello there.

 Glacier retreat has been measured for the last 122 years. This is documented annually by the Alpine Club ( OAV ) 

Snowfall mass is a precise measurement on selected glacier observation points. This is provided by the Central Institute of Meteorology and Geodynamics who produce the results annually in May of each year.This is a relative new research compared to the Alpine Club observations.

What is of interest, is that 93 of 95 glaciers retreated in 2012. The recent record is the Pasterze Glacier which retreated by 97.3 metres last year. The average loss of all glaciers in Austria was 17.4 m. So this winters snow mass increase should provide some interesting data come September as to whether this has any effect on the present increasing rate of glacier retreat or shows the start of a advance , a hold or none at all !

 C

C

This years end of summer measurements continue to show the progressive decay of Glaciers in the Hohe Tauren. The rate of retreat and loss of thickness is not as great as previous years, this despite a exceptionally hot summer in this region. Early summer snowfalls provided some protection from the high summer solar enery. Although, welcome news to record a halt to the previous higher rates of loss, a continued loss nether the less. A cold Autumn is paramount to hold glacier ice mass, unfortunately tropical air source has now become established at a critical time and the present run of warm Autumns continues in the Alpine regions ,generally.

C