While it might look like something out of an over-the-top gender-reveal party, bright pink waters flowing through the Swiss Alps actually have been part of an experiment aimed at better understanding meltwater runoff from an important but rapidly disappearing glacier.
What's happening?
To learn more about the flow of meltwater coming from the Rhône Glacier, the water "has been dyed pink" by scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, according to New Scientist.
By doing so, the researchers hoped to gather additional data about how fast the meltwater has been flowing and how long it has traveled before it reaches rivers and other bodies of water.
Serving as the origin of the 500-mile-long Rhône River, which flows through Lake Geneva and into France before reaching the Mediterranean Sea, the Rhône Glacier for centuries has served as a key source of water for the region, according to Tauk, a tour operator.
Despite this importance, the Rhône Glacier has lost roughly 60% of its overall volume since 1850, per New Scientist.
Why are melting glaciers important?
As the world's fastest-warming continent, Europe has seen drastic changes hit its alpine regions at an incredibly rapid pace. As temperatures continue to rise, glaciers that have existed for millennia have been disappearing at a troubling rate.
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Among the areas most impacted have been the Swiss Alps. As the region's glaciers become smaller and smaller, it has affected important water supplies used for drinking, agriculture, and navigation hundreds of miles away.
Additionally, melting glaciers threaten the stability of the mountains themselves, endangering local communities. Earlier this year, falling ice and rock unleashed by the melting Birch Glacier partially buried the village of Blatten, Switzerland, forcing the evacuation of roughly 300 residents.
Further, when land ice like glaciers melt, the runoff ends up in the world's oceans, even if they are located hundreds of miles away, as with the Rhône Glacier. This runoff has contributed significantly to sea-level rise.
For decades, experts have warned that releasing large amounts of heat-trapping pollution into the atmosphere would cause global temperatures to increase. As the rapidly melting glaciers in the Swiss Alps have demonstrated, those scientific forecasts have quickly become the current reality.
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Majorly 😥 What's being done about melting glaciers?
By conducting research like the current investigation involving pink-hued meltwater, researchers hope to better understand the state of the Swiss Alps' melting glaciers. This will allow experts to take appropriate steps to help mitigate the impact.
However, to reduce the rate at which glaciers are melting over the long term, the world must significantly reduce the amount of planet-overheating pollution entering the atmosphere. This will involve shifting the global economy away from burning dirtier, extracted fuels like coal, natural gas, and oil toward cleaner, renewable sources of energy like solar.
To help spur this transition, you can take steps like driving an EV and installing solar panels on your home. Charging an EV using home solar is cheaper than doing so off the grid or at a public charging station. Plus, you have the added benefit of knowing that your vehicle is being powered by cleaner, renewable energy from the sun.
Additionally, combining solar panels with a home battery system can make your house more resilient in the event of a power outage, ensuring that you and your family have electricity when you need it the most.
EnergySage makes it simple to upgrade your home to solar power with easy-to-use online tools that allow you to compare quotes from vetted local solar installers and to identify tax credits and other financial incentives available in your state.
However, with federal tax credits for EVs ending September 30 and those for home solar expiring Dec. 31, you must act quickly to take advantage of the thousands of dollars in potential savings.
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