Snowless Alps a Historic First with Global Warming at Work

The World Meteorological Association released its State of the Global Climate 2022 report. Last year, global sea levels reached a record average high. They are now rising twice as fast as in the decade between 1993-2003.

Melting glaciers and a warming ocean were major factors behind the rise the level of sea ice in Antarctica reached a record low last summer. While ocean temperatures were the warmest on record, 58% of the ocean surface experienced a marine heatwave last year.

Alpine glaciers melted faster than ever before, too. Switzerland lost 6% of its glaciers between 2021-2022. Thermometers hit 20˚C in Switzerland on New Year’s Day 2023, beating the previous record, set in 1961, by 3.7˚C.

These records were broken despite 3 years of La Niña, a cooling climatic event. Experts say we will likely see new record highs in the next 2 years as El Niño – and its warming effect – returns.

Watch to learn more about the reason behind the snowless Alps last summer.