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.”

Police said that searches for the climber at the time proved unsuccessful.

The climber’s remains underwent a forensic analysis at Valais Hospital, allowing experts to link them to the 1986 disappearance, police added Thursday.

Police did not provide additional information of the German alpinist’s identity nor on the circumstances of his death.

Authorities released a photograph of a lone hiking boot with red laces sticking out of the snow, along with some hiking equipment that had belonged to the missing person.

“The recession of the glaciers increasingly brings to light missing alpinists who were reported missing several decades ago,” police concluded in the statement.

The discovery of the remains of the German climber came as scientists revealed earlier last week that July was on track to be the planet’s hottest in around 120,000 years.

Glaciologist Lindsey Nicholson at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, said 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.

Last year, Swiss glaciers recorded their worst melt rate since records began more than a century ago, losing 6% of their remaining volume in 2022, nearly double the previous record of 2003, Reuters reported.

The melt was so extreme in 2022 that bare rock that had remained buried for millennia re-emerged at one site while bodies and even a plane lost elsewhere in the Alps decades ago were recovered.

In 2015, the remains of two Japanese climbers who went missing on the Matterhorn in a 1970 snowstorm were found and their identities confirmed through the DNA testing of their relatives.

“The glaciers are undergoing a long-term trend of melting,” Nicholson said, adding the trend is expected to continue, with “low snow years” contributing to the problem.

“The reduced snow amount is also partly coupled to the change in temperatures, because what happens is some of the precipitation that … would have come in the form of snow, now comes in the form of rain. That does not help the glaciers, it works against them,” she added.

Even if ambitious climate targets are met, up to half of the world’s glaciers could disappear by the end of the century, according to recent research.

“If we continue with the current level of emissions, we are looking at a largely deglaciated Alps region for generations to come — and that is very sad,” Nicholson warned.

The disappearance of glaciers will have cascading impacts.

Glaciers play a vital role in providing fresh water for nearly 2 billion people and they are also a key contributor to sea level rise.

“Some regions of the world are much more dependent on the glacier mountains than we are here — in some cases they are much more vulnerable than the Alps,” Nicholson added.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【登山家】

dēngshānjiā

alpinist

a mountain climber specializing in high, difficult ascents

【连带影响】

liándài yǐngxiǎng

cascading impacts

a sequence of events where abrupt changes in one component lead to serious outcomes

37年前一名德国登山者在瑞士地标景点马特宏峰附近的冰川徒步旅行时失踪，他的遗骸近日找到了。

瓦莱州警方周四发表声明说，有登山者7月12日在采尔马特的西奥多尔冰川徒步旅行时发现了人类遗骸和几件装备。

警方说：“通过 DNA 分析，确认了一名1986年失踪的登山者身份。”1986年9月，一名时年 38岁的德国登山者报告失踪，当时对失踪者搜寻未果。

警方周四补充说，该登山者的遗骸在瓦莱州医院进行了法医鉴定后和1986年的失踪案联系了起来。

关于这位德国登山家的身份和死亡情况，警方没有提供更多信息。

他们公布了一张照片，照片中一只系有红色鞋带的登山靴从雪中露出，周围还有一些属于失踪者的登山装备。

警方在声明中总结道：“随着冰川消退，越来越多几十年前报告失踪的登山爱好者遗骸被发现。”

科学家们上周早些时候透露，7月将成为地球上约 12 万年来最热的月份。

奥地利因斯布鲁克大学的冰川学家林赛•尼科尔森说，气候变化导致的冰川消融让失踪登山者的遗体被发现。

“随着冰川的消退，任何物体 —— 包括掉入冰川或被积雪掩埋的人 —— 都会重现。”尼科尔森说：“欧洲阿尔卑斯山脉的所有冰川都在快速融化和消退。”

据路透社报道，去年，瑞士冰川的融化速度创下了自一个多世纪前有记录以来的最快，2022 年瑞士冰川的剩余体积减少了6%，几乎是2003年记录的两倍。

2022年冰川融化速度如此之快，以至于在阿尔卑斯山某处被积雪覆盖千年的岩石裸露出来，在其他地方还找到了几十年前的遗骸，甚至还有一架飞机。

2015年找到了1970年在马特宏峰的一场暴风雪中失踪的两名日本登山者的遗骸，并通过比对亲属的DNA确认了身份。

尼科尔森说：“冰川正经历着长期的融化趋势。” 她预计这一趋势将持续下去，而“少雪年”是造成问题的原因之一。

她说：“雪量减少部分与气温变化有关，因为一些降水......原本以雪的形式出现，现在则以雨的形式出现。而降雨反而对冰川不利。”

最新研究表明，即使雄心勃勃的气候目标得以实现，到本世纪末全球一半的冰川也可能消失。

尼科尔森警告说：“如果我们继续保持现在的排放量，那么未来几代人的时间里阿尔卑斯山地区的冰川将大面积退化，这是非常可悲的。”

冰川的消失将产生连带影响。

冰川发挥至关重要的作用，为近 20 亿人提供淡水，冰川融化也是导致海平面上升的一个关键因素。

尼科尔森补充说：“世界上有些地区比我们这里更依赖冰川山脉的存在，那些地区比阿尔卑斯山更脆弱。”

(SD-Agencies)