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Environment
Jonathan L. Carrivick, Senior Lecturer in Geomorphology, University of Leeds

Melting glaciers in the Alps will eradicate some invertebrates that are crucial for alpine ecosystems – new research

A glacier-fed river from the Odenwinkelkees glacier, Austria. Jonathan Carrivick, CC BY-NC-ND

Glaciers across the European Alps are melting at an alarming rate. Between 2000 and 2014, glaciers in the region thinned by up to 0.9 metres on average each year. Over the entire mountain range, this rate of melting produces around 1.3 gigatonnes of lost ice mass annually.

The rapid decline of these glaciers poses a significant threat to the many animal species that live in or around the glacial meltwater rivers of the Alps. Invertebrates that are specially adapted to living in these rivers, for example, will face widespread habitat loss in the future should these rivers decline.

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