The glacial peak of Kebnekaise, Sweden’s highest mountain has lost its title. According to the new study, the mountain shrunk by almost 6.5ft in one year.
Since 2000, the height of the glaciated southern peak has been found to decrease ‘drastically’. Scientists say climate change is to blame for this.
At present, the peak is at its lowest height since the measurements started in the 1940s. It was once the tallest mountain in the country, measuring about 2,118 meters. But latest measurements shared by researchers at Stockholm University revealed that the mountain is now at 2,094.6 meters above sea level.
According to the European Copernicus Earth observation program, the Kebnekaise glacier has lost one-third of its mass in recent years.
Gunhild Ninis Rosqvist, a Stockholm University geography professor who has been measuring the peak each year, told CNN, “For the first time since 1880 we can say for certainty that it’s lower than the other peak,” “Last year we suspected it, but it never went below the other peak. Now, we measured it at the end of melt season on September 3 using GPS technology with only a few centimetres margin of error.”
She explained that over the past 50 years, the height of the mountain has decreased by an alarming 24 meters. However, in the past 10 years, the peak is melting at the rate of one meter per year.
Ninis Rosqvist said, “The glacier is getting thinner and thinner. It covers less area. And it gets slippery at the top, where it should be only ice,” she said.
“I just had a colleague who hasn’t been here for 10 years and he was in shock,” she said. “The rate is faster than I anticipated. Maybe we don’t need so many symbols because we know that it’s getting warmer. But maybe this will help people realize that we need to do something about it.”
