Swiss Begin Planning For Climate-Caused Ruptures Of Glacial Lakes

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SWITZERLAND is drawing up emergency plans to cope with tsunamis after scientists warned that rocks from crumbling mountains could tumble into the country’s lakes and cause devastating tidal waves.

The risk of a giant wave like the one that devastated southeast Asia at the end of 2004 may seem unlikely in a landlocked country, most of which is hundreds of feet above sea level, but experts insist it could happen and have drawn up a map highlighting the areas that are under the greatest threat. Rising temperatures are causing the permafrost that binds the high peaks of the Alps to melt, making the mountains increasingly unstable. Some of the best known tourist resorts, including St Moritz, Saas Fee and Zermatt, have been warned they are vulnerable.

Last month half a million cubic metres of rock tumbled from the Eiger shrouding the nearby resort of Grindelwald in dust. Nobody was hurt, but geologists predict it could happen again. If rock plunged into a lake the ripples could produce a wave powerful enough to claim hundreds of lives, they said.

The Swiss environment ministry admits its emergency plan is still in the early stages. Its first priority is to identify where permafrost is present and where mudslides and rockfalls are likely as it melts under the effect of global warming.

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2310039,00.html

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1. Smart...I'm glad someone thinks ahead. n/t