Kathmandu. The beautiful village of Blaten in Switzerland has been devastated by a terrible natural disaster.
The incident took place on May 28. A large part of the Birch glacier burst and fell into the village. This led to a flood of snow, mud and rocks. 90 percent of the village was buried under the rubble. The rest of the houses were flooded. According to scientists, this is a dangerous consequence of climate change.
Blaten is a small village in the Lotcentral Valley in the Goodness region of Switzerland. Which is located under the Bitschhorn Mountain. At 3:30 p.m. that day, a large portion of the Birch glacier (about 1.5 million cubic meters) burst into the village.
Snow, mud and rocks buried the village completely in the avalanche. Drones and viral videos on social media showed how the village was covered with a huge cloud of dust. On May 19, 300 residents of the village were evacuated as scientists warned that the glacier was unstable. A 64-year-old man was missing. The search for them was halted on Thursday (May 29) due to unstable debris.
The avalanche blocked the Lonza River. This led to a large artificial lake. The lake’s water is rising by 80 centimeters per hour, inundating the surviving houses. Some people have also been evacuated from nearby villages.
“If the debris destroys the Fardon Dam, there could be further destruction,” said Stephen Ganzer, chief of goodness security. However, the dam has already been cleared. So that it can stop excess water. 50 Swiss military personnel, water pumps and heavy machinery are ready for relief work.
According to scientists, this disaster is caused by climate change. Glaciers in Switzerland are melting rapidly. Permafrost (always frozen soil) is also melting. This permafrost works to keep the mountains stable. When it melts, rocks and glaciers become unstable.
Mathias Haas, switzerland’s head of glacier monitoring, said: “This has not happened in hundreds of years. This is the result of climate change. ’
Since the 1970s, temperatures in the Swiss Alps have risen by 3 degrees Celsius. Since 2000, 40 percent of glaciers have melted. In 2022 and 2023, 10 percent of the ice was lost.
“We lost our village, but our morale has not been broken,” said Blatan Mayor Mathias Belwald. We will rebuild. However, this trauma is very big for the residents here. ’
“I lost everything yesterday,” said one woman.
Werner Belwald of the nearby village of Reed said, “My ancestral home, built in 1654, is also buried under the rubble. Now it seems that there has never been a settlement. ’
This is not the first time such a disaster has occurred in Switzerland. In 2023, the village of Brienz in eastern Switzerland was also evacuated due to fears of avalanches. In 2017, an avalanche killed eight people in Bondo village.
This event is a great example of climate change. “If greenhouse gas emissions don’t stop, Switzerland’s glaciers could disappear completely by 2100,” the scientists said. ’
2024 was considered the warmest year on record. Which has further weakened the glaciers.
The destruction of Blaten village has reminded the entire world of the dangers of climate change. 300 people have become homeless. One is still missing. – Agency
