Trift Glacier, Guttannen, Switzerland — twenty years ago, the glacier tongue reached what is now the lake below.

HOT SUMMERS CRUMBLE MOUNTAINS

Mariko became so overwhelmed by dizziness and lightheadedness during a midday review of a construction site, that she forced herself to sit down before fainting. She told me the story as we were hiking up the Trift valley to see one of Switzerland’s disappearing glaciers, attributing the malaise to exhaustion from work. Her symptoms, though, were those of heat exhaustion.

While Mariko rapidly recuperated, death from heatstroke was a common occurrence during this Northern-hemisphere summer. From Japan, to Algeria and Canada, heatstroke deaths topped headlines. Globally, major media reported regularly on the impact of the record breaking temperatures of the 2018 summer. Caused by climate change, the high temperatures have impacted everything from human health to agriculture, infrastructure, and, of course, ecosystems.

July temperatures across Europe were +3°C to +6°C above average.

Apart from the Trift glacier that made it into the New York Times Magazine special report “Losing Earth: the decade we almost stopped climate change”, the degradation of high mountain Swiss ecosystems does not usually reach global news. Yet, like every ecosystem, changing ecological dynamics are dramatically impacting their characteristics.

As highlighted by the New York Times, the most noticeable change in the Swiss Alps are retreating glaciers. The last time the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network reported glacier growth was 2001. Since then all of Switzerland’s 1,500 glaciers are gradually disappearing. Swiss glaciers support five river basins that feed the water sources of neighboring countries. By the end of this century Swiss glaciers are expected to be a figment of the past, only to be seen on souvenir shop postcards.

All glacier tongues monitored by the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network are now retreating

The Alpine landscape could change much more than going from white-capped mountain tops to brown, barren rocks. Warmer summers equally affect invisible ice: the permafrost below the rock surface. Permafrost is a mix of rocks, soil, and sediments held together by ice that acts like cement, holding rock faces together. As the ice thaws, rocks loosen and mountain faces crumble. In 2005, the Bonatti Pillar on the French side of the Mont Blanc mountain range, much loved by climbers, completely subsided. Similar dramatic large-volume rock falls occurred in 2017 both in France and Switzerland.

4 million cubic meter rockfall at Piz Cengalo in the Swiss Grissons Alps, led eight people to their death in 2017.

As summer ends, the impacts of climate change will continue to be felt in mountain communities. Rock falls will increase as thawing reaches its peak in the fall and the winter will experience a heightened risk of avalanches. As Mariko and I hiked, I could not stop thinking how much more these mountains I love will change in our lifetime.

Though we can no longer halt climate change, there are actions we can take as citizens to lessen its impacts and save our mountains. I invite you to explore a mountain near you, feel its mightiness, and pick one action from the list below to save it.

1. INVEST SUSTAINABLY: inform yourself — does your pension fund invest in fossil fuels or does it support an SME creating social and environmental returns? The Global Alliance for Banking on Value lists 54 progressive values-based banks across the world. In Europe, Triodos Bank is an international success story demonstrating throughout its three decades of sustained growth that triple bottom line investment is both possible and profitable.
2. SAY NO TO PLASTICS: use reusable water bottles, reusable coffee cups and reusable shopping bags rather than disposable plastic products.
3. GIVE UP MEAT: if Europeans adopted a demitarian diet (cutting meat and dairy consumption by 50%), nitrogen emissions for the region could fall by 40% and green house gas emissions by 25–40%.
4. PLANT TREES: tropical forests are increasingly threatened by deforestation for natural resource exploitation and livestock grassland. Reforestation programs are key to conserving the world’s carbon sinks. Passively contribute to reforestation by using the Ecosia search engine and by staying focused with the Forest app, or actively donate to a initiatives like Reforestamos por Naturaleza.
5. MOVE WISELY: transport and energy remain the main emitters. Changing cars? Opt for electric. Live near public transport? Take advantage of the train ride to reduce emissions and catch up on readings.