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international

The Aletsch Glacier, or Great Aletsch Glacier, is “I always feel that the body is a
the largest glacier in the Alps. It is one of the
three largest in Europe, and the only one at constant medium and creates a new
that longitude. For a larger European glacier dialogue for the background. In this
you would have to go far north, to Iceland and
the islands of the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian case (Aletsch), the vulnerability of the
archipelago of Svalbard, or the Russian island body coincided with the vulnerability
group of Novaya Zemlya. The Great Aletsch
Glacier is the longest glacier in the Alps, with the of the glacier. The glacier looks strong,
largest surface area - 23 km long, and covering but is not… it’s just as vulnerable”.
more than 120 square kilometres. It is not only
the glacier’s area which is impressive, but also its
depth. Measurements carried out by the Federal
Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ), have
shown that at its source it is about 1 km deep. As of ablation exceeds that of accumulation that a
it descends, it gets gradually thinner, and at the glacier starts to shrink.
Climate change: end it is only about 150 metres. The total weight The Current Situation:
of the glacier has been calculated to be 27 billion
what can make a Titan fragile and tonnes - it has enough water to give every person Today, all Swiss Glaciers are threatened by
on the planet one litre a day for six years.
climate change. In the last two decades, the
ice giants which previously pushed their way
vulnerable (part 1) If you visit it in summer, you will clearly see two down to the valley centimetres at a time have
dark stripes which are often covered by winter retreated, often by several kilometres. Almost
snow. This is because three huge ice streams seven hundred glaciers may have already
– already between seven and nine kilometres disappeared – the phenomenon is so striking
long - come together and merge in a place that environmental activists already have a term
poetically called the Konkordiaplatz - Place of for it: “dead” glaciers.
Concordia. These stripes, which are a striking Only a few years ago, the whole world was looking
feature of the Aletsch, run practically all the at this place. I refer to Tunick’s award-winning
way along the glacier’s length. They are medial photos from his unique photo session directly on
moraines: rock debris pushed along the sides of the glacier. The photos were published all over
the separate streams that join to make this giant the world, in all Swiss outlets but also in Reuters
glacier. Over time these medial moraines often Associated Press and raised awareness of the
create glacier tables and dirt cones. A glacier glacier’s plight. More than six hundred people,
table is a boulder perched on a pedestal of ice: from all over the world voluntarily responded
by shading it from the sun, the rock slows down to the appeal and took part in the session.
the rate at which the pedestal melts. A dirt cone They had to walk four hours to reach the site,
is a cone of ice - which can be several metres where they took off their clothes and stepped
high – covered by a thin layer of debris which on to the glacier as living monuments, to show
By Evelina Rioukhina again stops it melting as fast as the ice around it. that the naked human body is as fragile as the
shrinking glacier. Some of them even lay down
You do not need to travel a thousand miles The glacier is a UNESCO World Heritage Site The Aletsch Glacier resulted from snow on the ice, showing the symbolic link between
– an impressive natural site and serious because of its environmental and natural value. accumulation and compaction. Glaciers are the vulnerability of the melting glacier and the
ecological disaster is only a step away When we see “UNESCO World Heritage”, we always “on the move”: when more snow falls than human body. The exhibition held after the shoot,
tend to think of something far away, but seven can thaw in summer it is gradually compacted, in Bern, was called “Lost Paradise”, warning that
They call it the Titan of the Alps, and it is the of them are in Switzerland, three just close eventually forming glacial ice. This process might the glacier is a natural paradise and can be lost.
largest glacier in the range. It is also one of by, and this one is a two and a half hour drive take several years: first, the snow flake “flocon de Giving an interview to Swiss and international
the most mythical places in Europe, a place of from Geneva. The glacier stands out because neige” takes two years to be granulated, then, media, Tunick said, “I always feel that the body
breath-taking beauty that fascinates travellers, of its beauty and majesty. It is one of the from 5 to 10 years to crystallise into a tiny piece is a constant medium and creates a new dialogue
kings, many world-known people, and nobility deepest in the world and seems very solid but of ice. New ice is constantly being added to the for the background. In this case (Aletsch), the
all over Europe. It is also one of the most despite appearances it is fragile and, nowadays, glacier top, while at the bottom it wears away in vulnerability of the body coincided with the
dramatic current ecological disasters. vulnerable to climate change. a process known as ablation. It is when the rate vulnerability of the glacier. The glacier looks

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