A weather balloon had to rise 5,184 meters above the Swiss Alps before it found freezing point temperatures.
The Swiss Alps have now witnessed freezing point reach the highest height ever recorded, surpassing the previous record by a staggering 70 meters, following a hot cluster of recent heatwaves throughout Europe.
MeteoSwiss, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, said Monday that an autonomous weather balloon had to ascend 5,184 meters (17,008 feet) above the Swiss Alps before finding temperatures at or below freezing point (0°C, 32°F).
According to the agency, this is a world record-breaker, beating the previous mark of 5,117 meters (16,788 feet) established on July 20, 1995.
It’s especially startling when the freezing point reaches this level in Western Europe since it exceeds the height of Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in the Alps, which sits at 4,807 meters (15,770 feet). Even before the new record was set this week, MeteoSwiss reports that July has experienced a number of trend-breaking freezing point heights that have been significantly higher than the usual for the month.
“The course of July has likewise been record-breaking,” MeteoSwiss wrote in a blog post.
“To date, there has only been one measurement above 5,000 meters, precisely 5,117 meters on July 20, 1995.” A value greater than 4,900 meters would position you in the top 10.”
“The freezing level is an essential component of the weather report.” It denotes the point at which temperatures fall into the freezing zone “They also added. “At the moment, this limit extends beyond the highest Alps summits, which is unusual.”
The climate problem is clearly affecting practically every area of our earth, even the traditionally cold higher-altitude mountains. Indeed, research has revealed that global warming is accelerating in many high-altitude places.
Temperatures over 4,000 meters (13,120 feet) warmed 75 percent quicker than temperatures below 2,000 meters (6,560 feet) over the previous 20 years, according to a 2015 research.
This causes significant disturbance for both humans and other creatures. Other study has shown how many animal species are being driven to migrate higher and further up mountain ranges in order to avoid the rising temperatures below.
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