The remains of a German mountain climber who went missing 37 years ago while hiking along a glacier near Switzerland’s iconic Matterhorn have been recovered, as melting glaciers lead to the re-emergence of bodies and objects thought to be long lost.
Climbers hiking along the Theodul Glacier in Zermatt on July 12 discovered human remains and several pieces of equipment, police in the Valais canton said in a statement Thursday.
“DNA analysis enabled the identification of a mountain climber who had been missing since 1986,” police said in a statement. “In September 1986, a German climber, who was 38 at the time, had been reported missing after not returning from a hike.”
"Glaciologist Lindsey Nicholson at the University of Innsbruck, in Austria, told CNN Friday that shrinking glaciers due to climate change have led to the discovery of bodies of climbers who disappeared.
“As the glaciers retreat, any material – including people who have fallen into or onto them and have been buried by subsequent snow – will emerge. All glaciers are melting very fast and receding across the European Alps,” Nicholson said."
This has happened before. Otzi the Ice Man reappeared after thousands of years under the ice. Bodies buried during World War I in the Italian Alps reappeared. My book about climate change gives other examples of what had been human settlement now reappearing from under the ice. Hint: those places were not under glaciers thousands of years ago, or there would not be bodies or human artifacts appearing now.
Look, it is getting hotter. But blaming a return to Bronze Age and Neolithic temperatures on the Industrial Revolution misses the important question what oil reserves did Bronze Age man exploit back then.
I see a bright future for polar regions.
Mountain climbers and WW I soldiers don't count; they went up there when it was already glacial.
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