hold mountain faces together at high altitudes. When it melts, the risk of sudden rockfall increases. Then again, we should try not to oversimplify matters and claim that every landslide or rockfall is a result of global warming, he adds. Or that climate change means the risks have automatically become greater. For instance, scientists have known about and been keeping a close eye on the unstable slope above Brienz-Brinzauls for decades. The hamlet is situated at a relatively low altitude, and no direct link can be made to the rise in temperatures. Yet mountainside degradation in other circumstances could well accelerate if, say, climate change leads to an increase in heavy rainfall events. Or if protective forest is thinned out because certain tree species are unable to cope with a proliferation of droughts. Millions of francs for monitoring and prevention Geographer Käthi Liechti is a scientific staff member of the Mountain Hydrology and Mass Movements research unit at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL). She is in charge of the Swiss flood and landslide damage database, which has been recording damage from debris flows, landslides and rockfalls in adWe regard the Alps as a place of refuge as well as natural beauty – provided we can live there. authorities and the general public approach the new realities of life in the Alps. Switzerland’s populated areas are expanding, with infrastructure taking on greater importance. This increases the risk of events like landslides causing major damage. Regardless of whether or not such events are becoming more frequent due to global warming, Switzerland is, in other words, certainly more exposed than before. Having said this, Liechti believes that Over one million cubic metres of rock thundered down Piz Linard towards Brienz-Brinzauls on the night of 15/16 June 2023. The Grisons hamlet had been evacuated beforehand. Photo: Keystone Switzerland’s protection and monitoring capabilities have become more advanced from an organisational and technical perspective, incorporating forecasting and early warning systems as well as infrastructure like retention basins and protective walls. “The federal government and the cantons currently spend several million francs a year on mitigating natural risks,” Liechti tells us. This has helped to minimise damage, she adds, with the costs incurred from natural disasters not having changed significantly in recent decades. No longer at the mercy of fate Put simply, the more the Alps crumble, the more work Switzerland puts in to manage the consequences. We are no longer at the mercy of fate. Whereas the famous landslides of the past often ended in tragedy, we are much more likely now to get a handle on events before they occur. In 1806, the residents of Goldau (canton of Schwyz) would often hear the sound of tree roots snapping at night on the mountain above. They also began to notice fissures and cracks forming on the slopes. But they did nothing. No one even suggested evacuating. Following heavy rainfall at the beginning of September that year, a huge mass of rock and debris came sliding down the mountain, killing almost 500 people and destroying much of the village. Some 75 years later, churchgoers attending their September morning Sunday service in the village of Elm heard the sound of rockfall from the nearby mountain, which was being quarried for slate at the time. Unperturbed, the congregation carried on as normal. In fact, some locals even ventured up the slope later to get a better view. An avalanche of rock slid into the valley that afternoon. Over 100 inhabitants perished. dition to naturally triggered floods for over 50 years. However, Liechti says she cannot clearly state whether debris flows, landslides and rockfalls in the mountains have become more or less common, not least because you not only have to consider changes in the natural environment but also in how the Swiss Review / October 2023 / No.5 6 Focus
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