```html Pasterze Melts Rapidly: Austria's Largest Glacier in Danger ```

Each year, it loses one to two meters of ice thickness. In its lower area, it is up to ten meters. The result seems clear according to Geosphere Austria: The Pasterze at the foot of the Großglockner is currently still Austria's largest glacier. However, this is unlikely to remain the case for much longer. Geosphere Austria, which regularly examines and measures the glacier, warned of this on Thursday, a day before the first "World Glacier Day" was observed.

The year 2025 has been declared the "International Year for the Preservation of Glaciers" by the United Nations. And things do not look good, especially for the lower part of the Pasterze, the so-called glacier tongue. "The lower glacier part of the Pasterze, that is the distinctive glacier tongue, will largely disappear by 2050," said glaciologist Bernhard Hynek from Geosphere Austria. "While the higher glacier areas of the Pasterze will continue to exist in a significantly reduced form for a longer time."

Length Change of the Pasterze: Measurements Since the Late 19th Century

Since the end of the 19th century, the length change of the Pasterze has been regularly measured. Since 1980, the mass change has been measured annually, initially by Tauernkraftwerke AG (now Verbund) and since 2004 by Geosphere Austria. "Once or twice a year, we determine the mass change on the Pasterze and on two glaciers in the Sonnblick region," explained Hynek. "For this, ice melt and snow height are measured at several points. Additionally, the remaining ice thickness is measured using radar and seismics, and the annual ice thickness loss is measured using drones. A weather station on the ice and some automatic cameras are also involved in glacier monitoring."

A lot of snow in winter does bring a significant increase in mass to the glaciers, but for the long-term development of the glaciers in Austria, the weather in summer is more important. "What matters is whether occasional cold air intrusions in summer bring snow to the glaciers," emphasized the glaciologist. "Because a fresh, very white snow cover reflects almost 100 percent of the sun's rays. This can protect the glacier from melting for up to a week. A glacier without new snow, on the other hand, is much darker, absorbs a lot of solar radiation, and can lose more than half a meter of ice thickness in a week. Due to the significant climate warming of the last decades, precipitation in the summer half-year even in the highest areas of Austria increasingly falls as rain and not as snow. This accelerates the melting of Austria's glaciers."

Gepatschferner in Tyrol Likely Soon the Largest Glacier

The Pasterze has an area of approximately 15 square kilometers. The average ice thickness, across the entire glacier, is currently around 40 meters. In the past 20 years, measurements have shown an average decrease in ice thickness of about one and a half meters per year. In the years 2022, 2023, and 2024, the ice thickness melted by more than two meters per year.

The melting is particularly striking at the long glacier tongue of the Pasterze. It extends down to approximately 2,100 meters above sea level and is currently losing around five meters of ice thickness per year, in the very lower part up to ten meters. It is also becoming apparent that in the coming years the connection between the lower and upper part of the glacier will disappear. "If the connection to the upper Pasterzenkees, the Hufeisenbruch, completely breaks off in the next few years, the lower glacier part would be considered a separate glacier," explained the expert. "Then the Pasterze would no longer be the largest glacier in Austria, but the Gepatschferner in Tyrol."

(APA/Red)

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