Around the world, glaciers are retreating—even the strongest skeptics are having a hard time ignoring the signs of climate change. But as these giant bodies of compressed snow and ice recede, they are doing something unexpected for us: they are helping us close missing persons cases, including some from as many as a hundred years ago.
Presently, about 10% of the Earth’s mass is covered by glaciers, but since 1900 European glaciers have lost approximately half their volume. In Switzerland in 1850, glaciers covered 670 square miles (1,735 square kilometers) of the country. Since then, coverage has shrunk to about 344 square miles (890 square kilometers). As climate change continues its negative effect on the glaciers historians, archeologists and even the police are in a race to recover remains as they are found and before they decay in the warmer weather.
Story by Alex Conde
Sources
- Bodies Missing for 75 Years Found—Thanks to Melting Glacier
- Melting glaciers in Swiss Alps could reveal hundreds of mummified corpses
- Melting glaciers are revealing the mummified bodies of soldiers, ancient icemen, and long-lost adventurers
- Swiss couple’s bodies found in Alps glacier 75 years after they went missing
- Melting glaciers in northern Italy reveal corpses of WW1 soldiers
