The peaks of the Eastern Alps were already ice-free once before during the past 10,000 years. This is evidenced by new data from glacier researchers at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. It was only around 5,900 years ago that the climate gradually began to cool again and the glaciers started to grow once more, the scientists report in Nature Scientific Reports.

Ice core drillings at the Weißseespitze in the Tyrolean Kaunertal demonstrate that natural climate fluctuations, which can amplify human-caused climate change, can have considerable impacts on glaciers even at high altitudes. The peaks of the Eastern Alps were indeed already ice-free once during the past 10,000 years. During Ötzi's lifetime, the climate cooled and the glaciers advanced. These new findings have now been published by researchers led by Pascal Bohleber from the Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.

Read more at: oeaw.ac.at