00:00 Scientists say the Swiss glaciers are melting at a surprising speed this year.
00:04 They say the warm early summer combined with the recent heat wave is causing Swiss glaciers
00:10 to melt faster than expected. Scientists say due to the high temperatures,
00:14 there was also high melting all across Europe. Prominent glaciologist Matthias Hues
00:20 went with his team to collect data and measure the ice melt at the Plainmort Glacier in Switzerland.
00:26 "We lost at this position more than two meters of ice and this is a lot especially considering
00:34 that we are at the highest point of the glacier." Hues, who's the head of the Swiss Glacier
00:39 Monitoring Network, said the results of the data he and his team gathered won't be in for
00:44 a few more weeks. But they say some of the results are unexpected. Early signs based on readings from
00:49 five sites and modeling results across Switzerland suggest considerable massive melting is already
00:55 underway due to the high temperatures that continued for a long period of time.
01:00 "After this record year last year, we didn't expect to see again such a year with very strong losses
01:07 and this is really absolutely unprecedented." While this year has not surpassed last year's
01:12 record-breaking ice loss in Switzerland, with climate change and the speed of the melting
01:18 glaciers, scientists say 2023 already marks a year of significant ice loss.
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