Farewell to a vanishing giant
Immemorial, yet ever changing.
Tranquil, yet so roaring loud.
Moving slow, yet so rapidly.
Probably completely gone by 2100.
Rhone Glacier once was an even more impressive sight,
stretching from the top of the mountain ridge far down into the valley.
Nowadays, there's not much left. And what's left, soon will be gone.
How fast the melting is happening is experienceable with every year.
Before 2015 for example, this very glacier lake didn't exist at all.
Since then it's growing bigger and bigger every summer season.
One way to slow the melting down at least a bit is to cover up the ice with huge pieces of white fabric.
It actually prevents the covered part from melting as fast as the rest of the glacier.
We'll see how long it'll work.
Since the 1870's, this beautiful nature phenomenon is made accessible by the man-made glacier grotto.
As the years are getting warmer, unfortunately it is also melting away faster and faster.
Being freshly carved about 100 meters into the glacier every year - the first 30m will be gone only during one summer. Every year.
Rhone glacier seen from the valley in 2019 compared to 1900.
The author of the middle picture is unknown. It is in the public domain of the United States & Switzerland.
