The climate change runs fast, sometimes too fast. A photo that has literally gone around the world has demonstrated this in recent days. The photo, also republished by the Guardian and Libération, was published by an English tourist while on holiday in the Swiss Alps. The man, Duncan Porter, immortalized himself in the same spot, in front of a panoramic point with the Rhone glacier behind him, 15 years later. The two photographs compared are surprising (and dramatic): from 2009 to 2024, Much of the ice that once characterized the landscape has melted, revealing the rock beneath.
“I’m not going to lie, it made me cry,” she said. DuncanPortera Bristol-based software developer. The post, published last Sunday on the X platform, it went viral.
Fifteen years minus one day between these photos. Taken at the Rhone glacier in Switzerland today.
In the 2009 photo, the Rhone glacier It is still intact and the landscape is a long white expanse. Only 15 years laterthe dominant color is the gray of the rock no longer covered by ice. Not only that, what was a small puddle – not visible in the 2009 photo – now it’s a big green lake.
Carbon pollution released from burning fossil fuels and destruction of naturehas warmed the planet by 1.3°C since pre-industrial times. In Europe – which has warmed twice as fast as the global average – hotter summers have forced people in mountainous regions to see the glaciers melt before their eyes. Switzerland has lost a third of its glacier volume since 2000, according to official statistics, and the 10% have disappeared in the last two years aloneThe Rhone Glacier, in particular, has shrunk of about a quarter in the decade and a half between Porter’s two photos.
Potter’s post has been viewed 3 million times and users of the platform reacted with dismay and concern. As often happens, however, the photograph was also seen and commented on from climate change denier accountswho have interacted with offensive comments or by publishing data contrary to those made known by scientists and the main associations committed to safeguarding the planet.
