Study predicts 46% decline in Alps ice volume by 2050 due to climate change

By Muhammet Ikbal Arslan

GENEVA (AA) - An academic study conducted in Switzerland has revealed that the ice volume in the Alps could decrease by 34% to 46% by 2050 due to the catastrophic effects of climate change.

The findings of the study, a collaboration between Switzerland's University of Lausanne (UNIL), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology's Lausanne and Zurich campuses, the University of Zurich, and France's University of Grenoble, were made public on Friday.

According to the research, in the most optimistic scenario, wherein the increase in global temperatures halts, at least 34% of the ice in the European Alps could vanish by 2050.

Another estimate suggests that if the glacier melting trend of the last 20 years persists, approximately 46% of the glacier volume may melt by 2050.

When based on data from the last decade, this rate could increase to 65%.

Samuel Cook, a lecturer at the University of Lausanne, whose perspectives were included in the research, pointed out that the current situation regarding glaciers is likely to be worse.