UKH

We sent Dr Kieran some questions to find out more about the process and the project, referencing this article on the project.

I find this a bit depressing - it seems to me that the Mer de Glace at the beginning of the 20th century was about the same as it was when I first saw it in 1973. I didn't see it at all between 1978 and 1996 - I was mightily puzzled by the "new" route from Montenvers down to the ice. The rate of retreat has only got worse. 

Of course I was also mightily puzzled by the price of wine and the fact that a 50 FF note that I had wouldn't buy anything. The bank staff laughed at me!

I suppose change is inevitable....

Glancing at the photos you might think the glacier covers about the same area it did before. Then if you watch the video closely you see that at least 90% of the volume of the lower portion of the glacier is gone. 

We see this with our glaciers in the Pacific Northwest of the US as well. Many of them will be lost within my lifetime. It's tragic, really. 

Brilliant article, and deeply troubling, since I imagine the same glacier shrinkage is happening all over the world. 

yes very sad. It was only about a five years since I had first visited the Le Tour Glacier before last summer; I was shocked at how quickly it’d retreated above the AP hut in terms of volume.