Alpine Snow Depth Declining at Alarming Rate

Swiss research reveals mountain snow depth decreasing by up to 8cm per decade over past 60 years

Key Takeaways

AI

Snow depth in Swiss Alps has been declining over the past 60 years
Research used new Spass model for spatial snow climatology analysis
High mountain regions show greater absolute snow depth decrease than Central Plateau

By The Numbers

8 centimeters

Snow depth decrease per decade in high mountain regions

less than 1 centimeter

Snow depth decrease per decade in Central Plateau

4%

Decline per decade at 2,000 meters above sea level

20%

Decline per decade in Central Plateau

They Said

"This is the first time that we've been able to show trends over a wide area and for different altitudes. We can clearly see the consequences of climate change here."
— Christoph Marty

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