Swiss glacier collapse highlights urgent need for monitoring and warning systems, WMO says
As climate change accelerates, the World Meteorological Organisation is calling for more investment in monitoring and forecasting of glaciers to help protect mountain communities.
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00:00Glacier-related risks are becoming a global reality, says Celeste Saulo, head of the World Meteorological Organization.
00:07Speaking at the Glacier Preservation Conference in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, she said that no matter how developed the country is, all are at risk.
00:15Saulo pointed to the recent disaster at the Swiss village of Blatton, where a glacier-triggered mud light wiped out nearly all livelihoods.
00:22One person remains missing, but early warning systems helped reduce the toll.
00:27As climate change accelerates, the WMO is calling for more investment in monitoring and forecasting, especially to protect mountain communities.
00:36This is the new reality. We need to raise awareness of the importance of hydromet services for every single country in every single region.
00:46And that's why we advocate for more investments in monitoring.
00:51With better monitoring, we can expect to have better forecasts.
00:55And with those, we can expect to have better early warning systems in the end to protect societies, to protect people and to protect livelihoods.
01:04Last week, the Swiss village of Blatton was buried under a massive avalanche of rock and ice from the Birch Glacier and the nearby Lonza River bed.
01:13Days before the disaster, experts warned about a possible collapse of the glacier, which held 1.5 million cubic meters of ice.
01:20In response, local authorities evacuated around 300 people and livestock.
01:25A few days after the slide, the Lonza River began flowing again through the debris.
