A large portion of the Birch glacier In Switzerland, he detached himself, causing an ice, debris and mud that fully overwhelmed the village of Blatten, In the Canton Valaisyesterday afternoon at about 15:30. Fortunately, the country’s population at 100 m altitude had been evacuated in advance by the authorities but unfortunately it is estimated that about the 90% of homes both now covered by debrisas clearly visible from the video below.
This sad epilogue did not come completely unexpected. As reported also by the Swiss media in the days preceding the collapse, the glacier had been showing for some time signs of failurewith small avalanches that, gradually, advanced more and more towards the urban center which has about 300 inhabitants. Already on Monday events of this type were reported, with a front of the glacier that advanced at a rate of 10 meters per day. Overall, it is estimated that they have detached from the Birch Between 4 and 6 million cubic meters of material. Although the city has already been overwhelmed, the attention remains high: the debris have diverted the course of the Lonza river and therefore in the next few hours there are no flooding in neighboring areas.
But what were the causes of this disaster? At the moment it is early to say with certainty that this specific event is a direct cause of the climate change. These are the words of the researcher Mylène Jacquemart:
(The smaller landslides) happen more often, especially to high altitudes. (…) Take a connection between the increase in temperatures and larger landslides, such as the current one in Blatten or the one in Bondo in 2017, is instead premature. Our systematic observations extend over a period of twenty years. It is too little to say whether it is exceptional events or whether a significant statistical change is underway.
