Identity of Body Found Melting from Glacier Revealed
Foreign Media: "Bizarre Phenomenon Caused by Global Warming"
Foreign media including the British Daily Mail reported that the identity of the body discovered last September as the Alps glacier melted was a 32-year-old British explorer who went missing in December 1974.
According to local media on the 16th (local time), the discovered body was first reported missing in 1974 in Grangeneuve, Valais, Switzerland, and the name has not been disclosed. Since then, the whereabouts have not been confirmed.
The Valais police explained on the 16th, "We checked the list of missing persons to identify the body and completed DNA analysis in cooperation with the British police."
Recently, the discovery of bodies in the Alps has become more frequent. Last July, a body was found in the Stockji Glacier northwest of the Matterhorn in Switzerland, the media reported. The investigation at the time revealed that it was a 27-year-old German mountaineer reported missing in 1990.
In August last year, parts of a light aircraft that crashed in 1968 were revealed near the Aletsch Glacier close to Jungfrau, and various phenomena have been discovered as the glaciers melt. In 2017, the mummified bodies of a Swiss couple who went missing in 1942 while returning from milking cows in the meadow were found in the glacier, attracting attention.
Although the discovery of bodies is fortunate... Phenomena caused by global warming
The identity of the body discovered last September as the Alps glacier melted was revealed to be a 32-year-old British explorer who went missing in December 1974. [Photo by Yonhap News]
Some point out that while it is fortunate that missing bodies are found, it is a strange phenomenon caused by global warming. Swiss authorities expressed concern, stating, "Since the 20th century, about 500 glaciers in the Alps have disappeared, and the remaining 4,000 glaciers are at risk of losing 90% by 2100."
Global warming is causing unusual incidents in Swiss news and negatively affecting ski tourism. The issue of snow shortage in the Alps has been pointed out every year in Europe since 2010, when global warming became severe.
A research team from the University of Geneva analyzed satellite images and reported that the area in the Alps not covered by snow in winter has increased by 5,200 km² over the past 22 years.
This is nearly nine times the total area of Seoul (about 605 km²). The Alps region has warmed by 1.8 degrees Celsius over the past 70 years. This is much faster than the global average warming rate of about 0.5 degrees Celsius over the past 100 years. Due to the effects of global warming, the snow in the Alps is disappearing rapidly.
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