As in Iceland a few weeks ago, Swiss will commemorate Sunday during a long "funeral march" in the mountains the disappearance of one of the most studied alpine glaciers, Pizol, evaporated under the effect of global warming. The ceremony comes as the UN's special climate summit convenes several heads of state and government in New York on Monday to strengthen their commitments to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius or 2 degrees Celsius. ° C, compared to the pre-industrial period, in the 19th century.
In Switzerland, the Pizol "has lost so much of its substance that, from a scientific point of view, it is no longer a glacier," said Alessandra Degiacomi, of the Swiss Association for Climate Protection. NGOs at the origin of funerals. The hundred or so expected participants were asked to come in "mourning clothes" for a two-hour "funeral march" which should allow them to reach the foot of this ancient glacier, located at an altitude of around 2,700 meters, near Liechtenstein and Austria.
Oration and air of horn
Speeches will then be delivered, including by scientists and a chaplain, against the backdrop of Alpine horn music, a traditional wind instrument made of wood. A wreath will be laid but no commemorative plaque will be left on the spot, contrary to what the Icelanders did on August 18, in memory of Okjökull, the first glacier on the island to have lost its status. But in Switzerland as in Iceland, two countries known for their glaciers, the concern of scientists is the same in the face of global warming.