Alps Glacier Disappears... Missing Mountaineer's Body Found After 37 Years

Since 2010, Bodies Found One After Another as Glaciers Melt
Experts Say "They Will Disappear Faster Due to Record Heatwaves"

The body of a mountaineer who went missing during a climb in the Alps has been discovered after several decades. This is due to glaciers melting as a result of global warming.

On the 28th (local time), the British BBC reported, "Climbers passing over the Theodul Glacier above Zermatt, Switzerland, earlier this month found human remains and personal belongings."

Genetic analysis revealed that the body belonged to a German climber who went missing 37 years ago in 1986. At that time, a large-scale search and rescue operation was conducted, but no trace of him was found.

The police did not disclose the identity of the German man, but it is known that he was 38 years old at the time of his disappearance.

Due to the effects of global warming causing the glaciers in the Alps to melt, there have been increasing instances of bodies or traces of accidents previously buried in the snow being discovered recently.

In July last year, a body was found on the Stockji Glacier northwest of the Matterhorn in Switzerland. Investigation revealed it was a 27-year-old German mountaineer who went missing in 1990. In August of the same year, parts of a light aircraft that crashed in 1968 were exposed on the Aletsch Glacier near Jungfrau.

Melting and Disappearing Alps Glacier
Photo by AP Yonhap News

In 2014, a helicopter pilot delivering supplies to the Matterhorn mountain refuge discovered the body of British mountaineer Jonathan Conville, who went missing in 1979. The following year, the bodies of two Japanese climbers who disappeared in a snowstorm in 1970 were found at the edge of the Matterhorn Glacier. In 2017, the bodies of a Swiss couple who went missing in 1942 on a meadow were found in a mummified state in the glacier.

Experts point out, "While finding the bodies is a welcome event, it is also a cause for concern." According to Swiss authorities, about 500 glaciers in the Alps have disappeared since the 20th century, and the remaining approximately 4,000 glaciers are at risk of losing 90% of their mass by 2100.

This rapid change is also negatively affecting ski tourism. The Theodul Glacier, where the German body was found, is a famous ski resort that was connected to the nearby Gorner Glacier until the 1980s but is now separated.

According to a study by a research team from the University of Geneva earlier this year analyzing satellite images, the area of the Alps not covered by snow during winter has increased by 5,200 km² over the past 22 years. This is about nine times the size of Seoul (approximately 605 km²).

Global warming is even changing the shape of national borders. Last year, melting ice altered the border between Switzerland and Italy.

Borders are generally formed along watershed divides (boundaries separating river basins) where meltwater flows. However, as glaciers shrink, the location of these divides has also changed. Because of this, the governments of Switzerland and Italy are reportedly negotiating the redefinition of their border.

Swiss glacier experts said that glaciers are shrinking much faster than scientists predicted last summer, and they expect "that almost all Alpine glaciers will disappear by the end of this century" at this rate.

However, the BBC forecasted, "With record-breaking heatwaves continuing this summer, even these predictions by glacier experts may change."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.