Environment & Energy

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62689707

Switzerland's vanishing glaciers threaten Europe's water supply

31 August 2022
Imogen Foulkes
BBC News, Geneva

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But the consequences of the ice loss are far wider than the damage to local tourism, or finding lost climbers.

Glaciers are often referred to as the water towers of Europe. They store the winter snow, and release it gently over the summer, providing water for Europe's rivers and crops, and to cool its nuclear power stations.

Already this summer, freight along the Rhine in Germany has been interrupted because the water level is too low for heavily laden barges. In Switzerland, dying fish are being hastily rescued from rivers which are too shallow and too warm.
In France and Switzerland, nuclear power stations have had to reduce capacity because the water to cool them is limited.

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