By RTL News··Modified:
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A British couple, who drove past a Swiss glacier while on holiday in 2009, visited the mountain again this summer. Photos of the two images have gone viral on social media. You can see how much snow has melted on the glacier. “It brought tears to my eyes.”
Duncan and Helen Porter, a couple who visited the Rhone Glacier in the Swiss Alps for the first time in August 2009, wanted to show their two teenage daughters the area this year. When they saw the glacier, they were shocked. “Honestly, tears came to my eyes,” Duncan wrote in a post on X about the melting glacier.
feeling helpless
You can see how the glacier has shrunk dramatically over the past 15 years. Where there was still a lot of ice visible in 2009, now there are grey rocks. The images quickly went viral, and were viewed by more than four million people.
“A lot of people who see this feel helpless,” Duncan told the Guardian. He is committed to sustainability in Bristol, where he lives, and regularly draws attention to climate change. “There are actually a lot of things people can do,” he says. Without “sounding too preachy,” he wants to encourage people to be aware of global warming.
Shocking reactions
Reactions to X’s message are mixed. In addition to people shocked by the rapid melting of the glacier, there are also comments from users who are sceptical about climate change. Duncan told The Guardian that while glaciers grow and shrink, it shouldn’t be happening this fast.
The Swiss Academy of Sciences reported last fall that the country’s glaciers are melting too quickly. Even if the world can keep average temperature rise below 1.5 degrees, most of the glacier ice will melt. “It’s really possible that this country will soon have no more glaciers,” the head of the climate agency explained at the time.
A temperature rise of 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial times is seen as a kind of limit.
