Returning to the Rhône Glacier on a motorhome trip this summer, the family found a drastically different landscape.
Las Photos of one’s vacation british couple have been made viral for showing the shocking speed recoil by one glacier in Swiss.
Duncan and Helen Porter, a software developer and nurse from Bristol, first visited the glacierof the Rhône in August 2009 and they captured the memory with a photo from a viewpoint.
Almost 15 years later, returned on Sunday with their teenage daughters and took the same snapshot in the same loving pose, but with a very different backdrop. “I am not going to lie, made me cry“Porter shared in a viral post on X with the two photos, which he has already received more than four million visits.
A huge sheet of white ice has hollowed out to reveal steep gray rocksand a lago now covers the foreground. He stark contrast has captured people’s attention, framing an aspect of the climate crisis in a close way.
How fast are European glaciers disappearing?
Europa es the fastest warming continent. Temperatures are currently 2,3 °Cabove pre-industrial levelscompared to 1.3 degrees Celsius more worldwide.
These temperatures driven by fossil fuels are undermining our frozen regions, including the widespread glacier loss.
Switzerland lost about 10% of its glacial ice in two years, according to research by the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) and Glacier Monitoring Switzerland (GLAMOS) published last year. A third of the volume of its glaciers has melted since 2000. They are also endangered los glaciers of Austria e Italiaincluding the iconic glaciers of the Dolomites.
A previous study concluded that the half of the world’s glaciers are condemned to disappear at the end of the century, even if global warming is limited to 1.5°C. But climate action can save the restthe authors urge.
“Many people, when they see something like that, feel helpless“Porter declared to the British newspaper ‘The Guardian’ regarding his viral post. “But, in my experience, they can do a lot“added the bike enthusiast from Bristol, who sits on the committee of a local climate action group in the south-west of England.
Despite having attracted attention from climate denialist accounts on social network X, Porter said he was choosing to focus on others “really kind comments” in response to his emotional post.
