Natural hazards

Avalanches, rockfalls, glacier ice falls: natural hazards have always been part of life for people living in the Alps. But climate change is making the situation worse, for extreme events are becoming more and more frequent. The Jungfrau region had a foretaste of things to come in the summer of 2005, when it was battered by torrential rainstorms. The unusually heavy rainfall led to major landslides and flooding and caused millions of francs’ worth of damage. It will not have been the last disaster whose aftermath takes months of clearing up. The Bernese hazards expert Hansrudolf Keusen expects the mountain villages will have to tackle the consequences of climate change more and more in the coming years. «Natural hazards will increase overall. When the winters become warmer and wetter, this will have an impact on the movements of all masses where water is involved. In future there will be more rockfalls, debris flows and landslides, mainly in the mountains, but to some extent also in the pre-Alps.» One particularly spectacular event, which was clearly connected with climate change, also occurred in 2005, above Grindelwald. The Stieregg, once a popular mountain restaurant, found itself virtually overnight standing on the edge of an abyss. The alpine meadow, which had surrounded the building ever since anyone could remember, slid away within a matter of weeks. One of the reasons for the landslide was the melting of the Lower Grindelwald glacier, which until then had supported the terrain. The picture of the hut over the abyss went round the world – a symbol of the dramatic consequences of climate change that could occur even here, in the heart of Europe.

   
   

listening:

SCIENCE IN YOUR EAR
The multimedia climate guide on iPhone and Android, exclusive to the Jungfrau region.

APP für IPhone

Klimaguide das App für IPhone

App für Google play

 

Kontakt:
Jungfrau Region Tourismus AG
3800 Interlaken
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.jungfrauregion.ch
+41 (0)33 854 12 50


Five years after launching the Jungfrau Climate Guide in 2009 on the occasion of the 175th anniversary of the University of Bern, the initiators of the project have now developed an updated version: From 1 July 2014, it can be downloaded as an app for iPhones and Android devices.

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