Barbara McCarthy, BA MsC Climate Change, ex DCU Masters student, 16th April 2024.
Perspective for Weather Matters: Title: Beyond the glacier: On Switzerland’s most famous glaciers, climate change is having environmental impacts, but how are stakeholders at destinations adapting to its consequences? This perspective seeks to provide an overview of my research on five glaciers across the Bernese Alps and the Valais from personal visits to the regions in July 2022. My piece will focus on ‘disturbances’ in relation to glacial loss and how stakeholders are adapting. *Images and tables are included in a second paper.
The grotto at the Rhone glacier is covered with tarpaulins to keep the tourist site viable. A paraglacial lake, which has formed since 2010, at the foot of the Rhone Glacier, June 30th, 2022 (image 1)
Word Count: 1500 (excluding citations)
1. Introduction: At the frontline of climate change, high altitude mountain temperatures are rising faster than global temperatures (Delmotte et al 2019). In the Summer of 2022, I travelled to Switzerland to research how stakeholders are coping with climate change related uncertainties to ensure tourism remains secure in and around the fast retreating glaciers. According to academics, almost all glaciers around the world are shrinking or retreating (Huss et al 2022). I chose the topic of glacial retreat and tourism adaptation for my capstone research project for my MSc in Climate Change at Dublin City University, because of a longstanding interest in Alpine glaciers, tourism and related sports. My objective was to find out how stakeholders participate in and execute these adaptation measures and what processes related to climate change affect glacier tourism and the livelihoods that depend on it. I believe my findings reflect the criteria for the Call for Papers, as they draw from people in their environment- like mountain guides and use face to face interviewing. Via
quantitative and qualitative research, on-site interviews at five glacial regions, a literature review and gathering of relevant data, I concluded that stakeholders in glacial regions must adapt not only short term, but also long term measures.
2. Findings: Via a literature review and on-location research, I found stakeholders play a role in sharing information, but they can’t stop the effects of climate change. Managing risk and adapting to climate change is a priority for the tourism industry (Roberts G 2009). After spending some days talking to a host of people from site managers, entrepreneurs to public institutions, I recorded a ‘soft approach’ to adaptation and a lack of panicking about the distant future. For tourists, the importance of viewing glaciers offers a last chance tourism dimension to their experience (Lemelin et al 2010, Stewart et al 2015). Stakeholders perceive climate change is contributing to glacier loss creating management, itinerary, access, infrasture, attractiveness and safety issues. Stakeholders are adapting short term strategies including diversification and maintenance. Mitigation is not possible on a large scale level - for example the use of tarpaulins, which reduce glacier melt locally by around 60 percent, but it won’t cover entire glaciers. (*table 1 and *table 2.)
3. Method: I visited the following: The Rhone Glacier (image 1) which is home to an ice grotto, which has been carved into the glacier each year since 1870. The grotto is covered in tarpaulins to protect glacier melt, the Aletsch Glacier (image 2) the largest glacier in the European Alps (It is over 20 km long and has an ice thickness of up to 800 metres (Bauder A, Funk M and Huss M 2022), the Theodul Glacier (image 3) near Zermatt is part of a year-round ski area. I visited the glacier on July 2nd 2022, but it was closed due to high temperature by the end of July 2022 (Lagger M July 2022), the Gorner Glacier (image 4), one of the most highly monitored glaciers in the Alps (ESA 2021) and the Lower Grindelwald Glacier (image 5) which is not easily accessible for tourists. I met stakeholders mostly on site (mountain guides, tourists, business owners, tourism representatives). They discussed temperature rise, decreased snow cover, glacier length and thickness, summer heat waves and prolonged drought, mirroring literature findings (Salim et al 2021, Lemelin et al 2022). I took a trip across the Aletsch glacier with a mountain guide (entrepreneur). I spoke to academics on the phone. I found attractivity, infrastructure and access to and from glaciers featured heavily. Most adaptation strategies by stakeholders focus on short term measures, where cost is low and side effects are relative. (Salim et al 2021). This won’t help overcome vulnerabilities, but will keep glacier activity going in the short term.
4. Issues discussed by stakeholders: Attractivity of glacial regions was mentioned regularly by tourists and other stakeholders. No tourists stated they would not travel to the glacier, as a result of ‘less attractiveness’ and rapid landscape modification. Infrastructure is established because of permafrost or glacial debuttressing. This includes a cable station at Moosfluh (image 6) close to the glacier, which can shift by 11 metres horizontally and a ladder to the Concordia hut in the centre of the Aletsch glacier is lowered each year as the glacier is lowered in width. All interviews spoke of itinerary issues and increasing maintenance work. I spoke to a representative from an alpine club, who spoke about a transdisciplinary approach by the SAC (Swiss Alpine Club) which will determine the future of mountain huts in the Hut 2050 project. I found interviewees were mostly pragmatic, rather than panicky about the future, even at the Rhone Glacier, which according to tourists there was ‘disappearing before our eyes.”
Mountainguides are at the forefront of climate and more aware of changing landscapes than many others. I found their views to be important: ‘It’s already too late.’ “The glaciers are going to be gone soon. You can see the effects every year. This winter we had 30 percent less snow. We change the routes if necessary, but for now we are not adapting long term. We are reacting short term.” (mountain guide on the Aletsch glacier). In response to retreating glaciers, rockfall, serac collapse or unstable terrain caused by cryosphere change, he said he was diversifying his offers. “We assess and visit other locations if necessary. If the risk is too high, we won't go on certain climbs, but changing
routes brings new experiences, as does changing landscapes, flora and fauna. "It is not all bad.” Mountain sports are by nature variable and dependent on glacio and weather circumstances. (Boudeau et al 2021), (Welling and Abegg 2019). For example, skiing on high glaciers like Theodul could soon no longer be possible in the summer months. (Brupbacher, 2022). Those responsible for bringing tourists to the region are extending their summer programme away from glaciers. “We are always evolving and creating new ways for people to enjoy the mountains. In regions biking is popular, people come in summer to go hiking, canyoning, trail running or paragliding, not just glacier trekking or mountaineering”. (Local tourism representative).
Tourists I spoke to on site discussed changing glacial landscape (image 7). I hiked, skied, and trekked across the famous spots to meet tourists with varying interests, interviewing them as I went. Tourists were aware of glacier fragility and glacial awe, describing glacier experiences as ‘profound.’ A tourist at the Gorner glacier said: “This is a mindblowing, awesome experience. The visual impact of something so powerful can’t be described.” Last Chance tourism was a factor in tourist responses. LCT is a form of tourism conceptualised in 2010 by four publications on popular tourism (Dawson et al, 2010). A group of tourists who had visited the Rhone Glacier in 2010 said:. “When we were, the lake wasn't there yet. The tongue of the glacier came to this point where I’m standing.” Of the tourists who had been to the glacier before, 70 percent stated they were aware of changes. Academics found there is a misconception that ‘they’ are doing something to stop climate change, and melting glaciers, but ‘they’ aren’t. “Warm winters and hot summers are putting Swiss glaciers ‘highly unfavourable state”. Another expert said;“We’re trying to find a balance between protection, sustainability and the local economy, all equally important. Adaptation is a part of this.”
5. Conclusions: I believe this Perspective is useful on ‘disturbances.’ Glacier study and reactions to its loss is a very important part of our weather research. According to experts, the situation on Switzerland’s glaciers has never looked worse. The optimistic scenario is that global emissions go back to zero by 2050. The pessimistic scenario is that temperature will heat by 4.4 degrees, which will see almost all glaciers disappear, including the Aletsch. Because glacier evolution in the coming decades will lead to the disappearance of these tourist glaciers, transformative projects must begin today. Accordingly, the coping and incremental adaptation strategies can be viewed as transitional strategies that must include innovations to favour the emergence of new models. I propose that glacier tourism could become an ambassador for more sustainable practices. One way of achieving this, is to promote glaciers as vectors of pro-environmental behaviour and encourage sustainable travel. Preparing glaciers and glacial areas for their potential disappearance would be interesting for this research in particular. Little research exists about what happens when glaciers do melt.
6. Recommendations: I recommend local government offices in Swiss cantons to adapt to climate change in Swiss glacier regions by putting in place transformative adaptation strategies, while also maintaining a balance between economy, sustainability and environment in a region heavily reliant on tourism and glacier tourism. A transition management approach can ensure sustainability of activities in the future (Goessling et al, 2012). I also suggest a transdisciplinary approach (Otero et al 2020), which involves all parties including a renewal of the tourism offering. According to the UN, a transdisciplinary approach offers an opportunity to redesign glacier tourism to achieve sustainable development goals. (UNWTO and UNDP 2017).
Declaration of competing interests: I, Barbara McCarthy, have no conflicts of interest to declare. *images and tables on doc 2 attached
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