Alarming details: Glacier collapse is endangering the Alps!

Alarming details: Glacier collapse is endangering the Alps!

The Birch Glacier, once a majestic natural wonder of the Swiss Alps, has undergone dramatic changes in the last two years. At the end of May 2023, the glacier caused a stir when it triggered landslides in the small village of Blatten in the Lötschental. After these events, Georg Bayerle published the book “The Alpine Appeal,” in which he points out spectacular rock falls in the recent past. The rock slide from Piz Cengalo in 2017 was particularly tragic, in which eight people lost their lives and parts of the mountain village of Bondo were destroyed. The rock fall from the Ruhehorn in Tyrol in June 2023, in which a million cubic meters of rubble broke off, also underlines the growing threat posed by such events in the Alps. Bayerle describes the increase in rock falls as a permanent condition and warns of the dangerous consequences of climate change for the Alpine region.

Another serious event followed over two years later: On May 28, 2025, there was a glacier collapse on the Birch Glacier, which shook the Valais village of Blatten again. The collapse had an extraordinary volume and extent of damage for the Swiss Alps. It is a situation that is of great concern to experts such as Daniel Farinotti, professor of glaciology at ETH Zurich and the WSL research institute. The exact causes of the glacier collapse are not yet fully understood, but there are indications that several rock falls and a shift in terrain on the Kleiner Nesthorn were the main triggers. Before the glacier collapsed, several rock avalanches had already appeared, accumulating rock masses on the glacier.

Monitoring and research

The authorities and researchers have been monitoring the Birch Glacier for several years. A field inspection in the Lötschental demolition area on June 1, 2025 brought new findings, which were recorded in an updated fact sheet. Fortunately, there was no significant damage in the Engadine for the incident in April 2024, when a comparable amount of an estimated 8-9 million cubic meters of ice and debris broke off at Piz Scerscen. But the events surrounding the Birch Glacier illustrate the drama of the situation in the Alps.

The interaction of climate change, glacier melting and geological processes is an issue that affects not only the Alpine region, but also all of humanity. Bayerle's “Alpine Appeal” and the recent studies by Farinotti and his colleagues make it clear that the risk of natural disasters in these beautiful but fragile landscapes continues to increase.