As the world heats due to human-caused climate change, Jamtalferner will likely disappear in a few years, and the rest of Austria's glaciers may follow suit in a few decades.

This considerable glacier retreat has been observed by Andrea Fischer, a glaciologist at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. She and her team measure the ice to determine how the glaciers would be impacted by climate change in the present and the future. The Austrian glaciers have recently begun losing mass as a result of pieces of ice breaking off and falling onto the ground. This process, known as dry calving, has not been observed in the area for decades.

"A few years ago we thought that they would last until about the end of this century, but now it looks like at the end of 2050, at the end of the first half of the century, there'll be no glaciers in Austria anymore," said Fischer.

Glaciers are large volumes of ice that develop over generations as snow and ice condense and then move slowly across land. As glaciers around the world, including those in the Himalayas, Alps and Rockies, quickly retreat, it is one of the most obvious signs of climate change caused by humans. If current patterns in climate change continue, scientists predict that two-thirds of the world's glaciers will be gone by the end of the century.

The glaciers have drawn interest as they near the end of their lives, with tourists going into the mountains to observe them before it's too late. After the scorching summer of 2022, Germany's Schneeferner southern glacier no longer qualifies as a glacier, while the massive northern glacier is still present, even though it is also melting. Due to its location near Germany's highest peak, it attracts tourists and thrill seekers.

It will be witnessed as Jamtalferner continues to melt. Fischer added that in addition to monitoring safety risks from formerly ice-covered rock and other debris coming loose, scientists must determine how much water will flow from the retreating glacier.

Although Fischer claimed that even if people immediately stopped burning fossil fuels, it would be too late to prevent the disappearance of Jamtalferner, it is still necessary to minimize warming in order to make the changes to alpine regions more acceptable.

According to Fischer, the Alpine ecosystem may endure a warming of 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius beyond pre-industrial levels, and glaciers may be able to rebound and return at lower levels of warming.

"I think it's important that we all learn to think longer than our lifetimes, because we have to think about coming generations. Our decisions will affect the coming generations, especially in mountain regions."

(With input from AP)

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