Global warming is causing permafrost in the Alps to melt, leading to severe rainfall and increasing mudslide risks for Swiss communities. Residents like Franziska von Bergen are forced to abandon their homes as natural disasters escalate. Experts link these events to climate change, with mudslides threatening infrastructure and prompting costly safety investments. The dilemma of whether to invest in these vulnerable areas or abandon them raises critical social and political questions about the future of alpine regions.
The warming of our planet is leading to the melting of permafrost in the Alps, which in turn causes increasingly intense heavy rainfall to wash debris down the slopes. As a consequence, residents in some Swiss communities are being forced to leave their homes, potentially for good.
Franziska von Bergen steps into her home, where everything appears serene: vibrant flowers bloom in the garden, wind chimes sing gently with the breeze, and the lush landscape behind her well-kept wooden house offers a picturesque backdrop. She had envisioned spending her retirement here, nestled next to her parents’ house by the Aare River in Guttannen, located in the Swiss canton of Bern.
However, this tranquility is misleading. The municipality has prohibited her from living in the house during the summer months, allowing her only to winterize it. With a heavy heart, von Bergen has left the valley where she grew up. “My childhood was idyllic, surrounded by nature and the stream—it felt like paradise to me,” she reflects.
Transformation of the Aare River
The once quaint Aare River in the Bernese Oberland is no longer the small, verdant stream of von Bergen’s youth. Today, it has transformed into a wide expanse of rocks and stones, increasingly threatening as powerful debris flows rush down its riverbed.
In 2023, Guttannen experienced a catastrophic mudslide, characterized by torrents of rocks, debris, and water cascading downstream amid stormy weather and an earthy sulfur scent. Footage captured the sheer force of the tons of material that surged toward the Aare, stopping just short of von Bergen’s residence.
The last winter saw record snowfall in the Alps, but the glaciers struggled to recover due to the ongoing climate changes.
Impact of Climate Change on Natural Disasters
Experts are increasingly observing spontaneous mudslides in the Alps, a troubling trend linked to climate change. As global temperatures rise, permafrost is thawing across many Alpine regions. This shift causes the zero-degree line to ascend, undermining the stability of the mountains as ice melts and loosens boulders and debris.
During summer, when significant amounts of water vapor rise due to global warming, thunderstorms unleash intense rainfall over the Alps. The combination of this extreme weather and loose debris creates deadly avalanches that cascade into the valleys below.
In June 2024, three lives were lost in such an unexpected event in the Swiss Misox Valley, where homes and vehicles were engulfed. In Zermatt, a popular tourist destination near the Matterhorn, streams overflowed, isolating the area for several days. By September 2024, a mudslide had devastated an entire neighborhood in Brienz, Bern, resulting in a missing person and the tragic death of another.
Investments for Safety and Sustainability
“Before the mudslide threats emerged, we could graze cows in the fields beside the streams. Now, that’s simply impossible,” laments mountain guide Alex Schläppi, surveying the expansive Spreitgraben above Guttannen, where the last mudslide threatened von Bergen’s home.
Equipped with a climbing harness, Schläppi attaches himself to a rope stretched over the now-gaping Spreitgraben. As a Guttannen native, he oversees the monitoring system designed to alert the community to mudslide risks, funded largely by a company operating a gas pipeline from the Netherlands to Italy. Swiss scientists have also deployed cameras and infrared technology to enhance monitoring efforts.
While suspended 40 meters in the air, Schläppi checks the cables and sensors, ensuring that a heavy stone sensor remains intact. If dislodged during a disaster, a traffic light will turn red, signaling an alert to residents via SMS.
Such investments in infrastructure—whether for tunnels, gas pipelines, or protective barriers—are becoming increasingly vital in the Alps to shield communities from natural threats. Guttannen’s residents have understood this urgency since a mudslide in 2005 flooded the town center, including the church, due to the swollen Aare River. The swift changes in climate raise critical questions for decision-makers about which investments are prudent.
The Dilemma of Abandonment
In Guttannen’s carpentry shop, Mayor Werner Schläppi contemplates the challenge of how long society will continue to pour millions into mountain infrastructure. “We believe that abandoning our mountain regions is not the solution. It’s a question for politics and society: What value do we place on these alpine areas?”
Daniel Albertin, mayor of Brienz, offers a stark example. In 2023, a rockfall nearly obliterated the small community of 84, and ongoing geological instability continues to put residents at risk. The village has been evacuated multiple times due to threats from above and persistent underground water issues causing the ground to shift by 2.4 meters annually.
To mitigate these risks, Albertin is overseeing the construction of a two-kilometer tunnel to redirect groundwater and safeguard his community, a project costing 77 million francs, with uncertain outcomes.
“It’s easy to suggest that Brienz should be abandoned, but financial assessments show that investing in safety here is justified. With our expertise, we can facilitate living in these cherished areas,” he asserts.
Meanwhile, in Guttannen, the decision has been made to abandon several homes, including von Bergen’s. The fear of the next landslide looms large, as the Spreitgraben and Aare River pose ongoing dangers.
“I am grateful for the chance to leave before I pass on. Yet, it doesn’t change the reality that I must depart from my paradise,” von Bergen shares. Though she clings to a flicker of hope for a return, she acknowledges the overwhelming power of nature against which humanity has little defense.
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This topic was reported by Erste on November 24, 2024, at 6:30 PM on Weltspiegel.