Photographer documents Aletsch Glacier’s rapid retreat

Swiss photographer Kurt Steiner has documented the retreat of the Aletsch Glacier for years, using GPS coordinates and repeat photographs to record changes in the landscape, SRF reported.

Steiner first visited the Aletsch region on a sunny autumn day in 2012. He was initially drawn by its natural beauty, but soon began returning to document the changes caused by melting ice.

“After a few visits, I realised: a lot is happening, and it is happening quickly,” Steiner said.

The 75-year-old has visited the area more than 120 times. Since 2020, he has consistently recorded GPS coordinates so he can take photographs from the same locations and compare them over time.

His images show the Aletsch Glacier’s rapid retreat. In 2018, the glacier portal was still near a signpost. It is now so far away that visitors need binoculars to see it. The Great Aletsch Glacier recedes by up to 50 metres each year.

The glacier is also losing height and thickness. At a distinctive rock formation near the Zenbächen stream, it once reached almost to the rocks. As the ice has melted, the gap has widened, and the stream now flows directly into the Massa, the river formed by meltwater from the Aletsch Glacier.

Steiner has turned his photographs into a brochure because he wants to raise public and political awareness of climate change. He said he had been interested in environmental issues since his youth and no longer wanted to remain a silent observer.

Hikers often approach him while he is taking photographs. Some do not want to see the reality shown in his images, he said. Steiner said he remained calm because he was a realist who understood what was happening and why.