Breane continues to retreat
Norwegian Glacier Museum & Ulltveit-Moe climate centre i Fjærland annually measures front changes on some glaciers in our region.
Haugabreen in Jølster retreated 6 meters, while Vetle Supphellebreen decreased by 22 meters. The glaciers have also melted a good deal along the sides and become thinner overall in recent years. This can be clearly seen in pictures of Haugabreen in 2015 and 2019.
Haugabreen Glacier in 2015 on the left and in 2019 on the right.
It's a bit sad to keep on communicating about these glaciers that are shrinking in size year after year. The temperature during the melting season increases and normally large amounts of snow in winter are not enough to compensate for the loss of mass from the glaciers.
The glacial melt has consequences that are important to focus on. Glaciers provide us with a stable water supply for renewable power generation and for irrigation in agriculture, they are a tourist attraction, they are in themselves natural masterpieces that provide qualities for living in the countryside and they can give us a lot of information about past climates. In other places in the world, glaciers are important as water sources for both drinking water and agriculture, and with bad news for glaciers, this is bad news for the people who depend on them.
Perhaps many of nature's great wonders, which glaciers certainly are, will be greatly altered or even disappear within a few generations. Those of us who can see and experience the glaciers today are witnesses to changes that are large and not least rapid from a geological perspective. It is the speed of change that is so frightening, and it is global warming due to anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and major land use changes that are driving these changes.
Bøyabreen and Store Supphellebreen were also previously measured in Fjærland. These are now being photographed and there are clear changes that can be captured with a camera.
Bøyabreen Glacier in 1997 and 2019.
It's clear that these two glaciers have been important icons for tourism for over 150 years in Fjærland. Tourists came from far and wide to see and experience the magical ice. The landscape itself, with the fjord and the mountains, is fantastic and unparalleled, and with the glaciers it has high international quality. But without the glaciers, an important natural element could be lost. This is something that affects us all, whether we are tourists or locals. By this I mean that we all contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and land use changes on the planet, through our way of life with a lot of travel and consumption. Those of us who work at Norwegian Glacier Museum and with this communication find that many of our visitors are interested in reducing emissions and living more sustainably. How many UN climate summits will it take to actually reverse the trend, and is this possible?