Birch Glacier

Birch Glacier Latest News

Recently, a large chunk of the Birch Glacier largely destroyed an Alpine village in Switzerland.

About Birch Glacier

• It is located in the Lötschental valley in northern Switzerland.
• The collapse of the glacier blocked the flow of the Lonza River, which runs through the valley.
• The Birch glacier was a special case: the only Swiss glacier that was advancing rather than shrinking. However, this was not because of extra snowfall.
• Its advance “was quite likely due to the pre-loading with rockfalls from this mountain, which has finally collapsed.
• Glaciologists have repeatedly expressed concerns about a thaw in recent years, attributed in large part to global warming, that has accelerated the retreat of glaciers in Switzerland.
• Switzerland, a landlocked Alpine country has the most glaciers of any country in Europe, and saw 4% of its total glacier volume disappear in 2023. That was the second-biggest decline in a single year after a 6% drop in 2022.

Birch Glacier FAQs

 Q1: Which is the biggest glacier in the world?

Ans: Lambert Glacier

Q2: What is called a glacier?

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Ans: A glacier is a large, perennial accumulation of crystalline ice, snow, rock, sediment, and often liquid water that originates on land and moves down slope under the influence of its own weight and gravity.

Source: TH