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Climate activists gather at Trient glacier to mourn Switzerland's receding ice

WION Web Team
SwitzerlandUpdated: Sep 06, 2020, 10:57 PM IST
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Photograph:(Reuters)

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More than 200 people gathered at the foot of the Trient glacier, situated along one of Western Europe's tallest mountain ranges, the Mont Blanc massif.

Climate activists gathered at the Trient glacier on Sunday to call attention to the impact of climate change on Switzerland's natural landscape. They urged authorities to take action to reduce CO2 emissions and draw attention to the disappearance of ice shelves and glaciers in the Alps and beyond.

More than 200 people gathered at the foot of the Trient glacier, situated along one of Western Europe's tallest mountain ranges, the Mont Blanc massif.

Their protest came one day before the Swiss parliament begins debating new legislation on reducing CO2 emissions.

Sitting at an altitude of 3,000-3,2000 metres, the Trient glacier has already receded by more than 1,000 metres over the last 30 years.

Switzerland's Turtmann Glacier in the same canton as Trient, split in two last month, losing 300,000 cubic metres in a dramatic collapse caught on camera.

The government says 90% of the 1,500 glaciers remaining -- including Trient -- will go by the end of the century if nothing is done to cut emissions.

"What we are asking, in the name of the Climate Alliance, is that strong political decisions be taken so that CO2 emissions can be lowered 60% by 2030," said an activist.