Climate warming is dramatically changing landscapes - the Swiss Alps are turning into a land of lakes. According to the latest data, since 1850, melting glaciers have formed 1200 new lakes here, and over a thousand of them still exist.
A team of scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) has combined aerial data from the massive mountain range and data from glaciers in Switzerland. A comprehensive inventory has been made possible by the large amount of data collected from the glaciers of Switzerland since the mid-19th century.
In total, the researchers were able to use data for seven periods between 1850 and 2016.
The analysis also showed that 180 of the existing lakes were formed only from 2006 to 2016, when 18 new bodies of water appeared annually.
According to him, this is "visible evidence of climate change in the Alps."
The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that is entirely located in Europe and extends approximately 745 miles across eight European countries: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Slovenia, and Switzerland.
However, this mighty mountain range has fallen prey to climate change, which has turned huge glaciers into nothing more than pools of water.
According to scientists, last year glaciers have lost as much as two percent of their volume. It is noteworthy that a quarter of the newly formed lakes either shrank or disappeared altogether.
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