SWITZERLAND: In a helicopter high above the Swiss Alps, we see Climate Change in action. The glacial ice is melting at an unprecedented rate, revealing items frozen long ago.
A scar suddenly appears in the bright white snow. A crumple of silver and red. “That’s the plane,” says our guide, Dominik Nellen, pointing. Below us on the Aletsch glacier is the wreck of a Piper Cherokee aircraft lost in 1968.
Hidden for more than half a century, it re-emerged without warning when the ice melted at the start of August.
“At first I thought it was two backpacks,” explains Dominik, as the helicopter lands nearby and we pick our way across the ice to the twisted metal sticking out of the snow.
A mountain guide for more than a decade, he regularly treks this route. Then one day, he saw the plane rising out of the snow.
“First I saw the wings, I saw the seats over there. I saw an eyeglass case. A Nivea cream and a red hat and damaged objects distributed,” he says.
It’s an arresting sight. Items bought more than 60 years ago lie perfectly preserved in the snow. “The glaciers are disappearing. They say when it continues like this, by the year 2090 only 10% of the glaciers will remain,” says Dominik. – SKY NEWS