According to glaciologist Christoph Mayer, the melting Watzmann glacier only has a few years left to go. The expert from the Bavarian Academy of Sciences said that it is easy to miscalculate by a few years, especially at the end Evening News. But: “My forecast assuming that the coming years will be similar to the last ten years: around four to five years.”
There is no question that the glacier on the Watzmann is dying. “Technical measures can be ruled out. The glacier is located in the Berchtesgaden National Park, and these measures would be far too complex anyway,” explained Mayer. “The glacier is currently so far out of equilibrium that it will disappear.”
A year ago, the Southern Schneeferner on the Zugspitze was stripped of its status as a glacier. This means that in Germany there are currently only the Watzmann Glacier and the Blaueis in the Berchtesgaden Alps as well as the Northern Schneeferner and the Höllentalferner at the Zugspitze – and their days are also numbered. In less than ten years there will probably no longer be any “perpetual” ice in Bavaria and therefore nationwide.
“The Bavarian glaciers largely have a symbolic character, as they are among the last remaining glaciers in the northern Limestone Alps,” explained Mayer. “They play no role in the water supply. They are too small for that.” The surrounding ecology will probably change slightly. “But these impacts are certainly very localized.”