logo
Swiss Glacier Collapse Engulfs Alpine Village in Rock and Ice

Swiss Glacier Collapse Engulfs Alpine Village in Rock and Ice

Mint29-05-2025

(Bloomberg) -- A Swiss glacier has collapsed, destroying most of the Alpine village of Blatten in a wave of rock and ice.
Live footage on Wednesday shows 3 million cubic meters of rock and mud burying Blatten and the nearby Lonza river. That's potentially increasing threats should the flow of water be blocked, according to the cantonal government in Valais.
'The worst-case scenario has become a reality,' Raphaël Mayoraz, head of the natural dangers service for Valais, told reporters on Wednesday 'It's an extremely rare phenomenon.'
About 300 people were evacuated from the village in the southern Loetschental valley 10 days ago as the risk of a rupture to the Birch glacier mounted. The army has been deployed to help with recovery efforts, with one person missing, according to Associated Press.
Scientists have long warned that a warming planet is making such events more likely. The Alps have warmed about 2C since the pre-industrial period, with many glaciers losing half their mass since 1900. Three years ago, 11 people were killed after a glacial ice shelf collapsed in the Dolomites in Italy following record-high temperatures.
Swiss researchers have explicitly sounded the alarm over the rate of thaw, which appears to be accelerating.
The world is currently on track to overshoot the critical warming threshold of 1.5C, with some estimates pointing to an average temperature rise of twice that by the end of the century. Exceeding 1.5C of warming will have irreversible consequences for glacier mass, scientists warned in a recent study, underscoring the need to slash greenhouse has emissions.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Chinese Firm Halts Production of Controversial Alzheimer's Drug
Chinese Firm Halts Production of Controversial Alzheimer's Drug

Mint

time12 hours ago

  • Mint

Chinese Firm Halts Production of Controversial Alzheimer's Drug

(Bloomberg) -- A Chinese company that developed the country's first indigenous therapy for Alzheimer's disease has suspended production and sales of the drug, casting doubts on the treatment's future. The drug's license has expired and its renewal is now in the final stages of a regulatory review, during which it must stop commercial production and sales, Green Valley Pharmaceutical Co. said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg News on Tuesday. The Shanghai-based drugmaker informed employees of the production halt in an internal notice at the end of May, local media Yicai reported first on Monday. Green Valley's drug — a seaweed-derived compound known as sodium oligomannate, or GV-971 — was hailed as a major advance when China's drug regulator gave it conditional approval in 2019, as the first new therapy endorsed for Alzheimer's in 17 years. Local and international medical experts have since questioned how effective it really is in slowing or reversing the cognitive declines of Alzheimer's patients given the relatively short duration of — and the inconsistent results shown in — its late-stage clinical trial in China. The company launched a global clinical trial in 2020, seeking to enroll some 2,000 patients across China, the US and Europe. It was terminated two years later due to a lack of funding and Covid pandemic disruptions. Green Valley previously conducted post-marketing clinical studies on around 3,300 patients on sodium oligomannate in China and has planned to present the results at an international academic conference later this year, according to the company. The changes are temporary and limited to operations related to sodium oligomannate, the company said, adding that drug supply for clinical trials is unaffected. 'We are in close communications with relevant authorities and believe patients' treatment needs will be met soon,' it said in the email. The closely-held company has not disclosed sales revenue for GV-971 in China, where it was included for national insurance reimbursement in 2022 at a price of around $41 per box. Hospital and retail sales of GV-971 topped $45.4 million (326 million yuan) that year, Yicai reported, citing figures from Pharnexcloud — a database of national hospital sales in China. China has since approved two new Alzheimer's therapies developed by multinational drugmakers: Biogen Inc. and Eisai Co.'s Leqembi, and Kisunla from Eli Lilly & Co. The country has 17 million dementia patients — about 30% of the global total — per a 2024 report led by Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. More stories like this are available on

UK PM Keir Starmer calls on Nvidia's Huang to train up Britons on AI
UK PM Keir Starmer calls on Nvidia's Huang to train up Britons on AI

Business Standard

time2 days ago

  • Business Standard

UK PM Keir Starmer calls on Nvidia's Huang to train up Britons on AI

The Labour leader will hold an in-conversation event in London with tech billionaire Huang to mark an agreement in which Nvidia helps the UK train more people in AI Bloomberg Keir Starmer will make an appearance alongside Nvidia Corp co-founder Jensen Huang on Monday, as the British prime minister puts technology and artificial intelligence at the heart of his government's plan to boost economic growth. The Labour leader will hold an in-conversation event in London with tech billionaire Huang to mark an agreement in which Nvidia helps the UK train more people in AI and expands research at universities and at the company's own AI lab in Bristol, west England. Starmer is keen to emphasise a positive vision for technology and growth at the start of a crucial week that will see the Labour government promote its plans to spend hundreds of billions of pounds over the course of the parliament. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is under pressure from opposition parties and some of her own colleagues, due to expected cuts in other areas. In her spending review on Wednesday, Reeves will prioritise the cherished but struggling National Health Service as well as the UK's military capabilities in light of Russian aggression and the prospect of less support from US President Donald Trump's White House. She will also confirm large amounts of capital investment — which is exempted from her fiscal rules — but day-to-day spending will be squeezed, with some departments facing real-terms cuts. Downing Street, keen to focus on its growth plans rather than spending restraints, confirmed £86 billion ($116 billion) in funding for British science at the weekend, covering areas such as pharmaceuticals, green energy and military technology. On Monday, Starmer will announce an £187 million program to improve the AI skills of British workers and students. The initiative is backed by major tech companies IBM, QinetiQ and Microsoft, the government said, as well as BT and defense manufacturer BAE Systems.

Post-Covid immunisation: Childhood measles vaccination rates plunge in several US counties; cases hit 30-year high, study finds
Post-Covid immunisation: Childhood measles vaccination rates plunge in several US counties; cases hit 30-year high, study finds

Time of India

time6 days ago

  • Time of India

Post-Covid immunisation: Childhood measles vaccination rates plunge in several US counties; cases hit 30-year high, study finds

Representative image Immunisation coverage for measles among children has declined, after the Covid pandemic in nearly 80 per cent of over 2,000 US counties analysed in a new study. The drop includes several regions currently experiencing outbreaks. The study, conducted by Johns Hopkins University and recently published in JAMA, was cited by the Associated Press. It highlights increased vulnerability in many areas, in line with state and national data showing declining routine childhood vaccination rates. "When you look at the state level or national level ... you really don't see those drastic drops. Those are there. They're real and they're really problematic," said Lauren Gardner, the study's senior author and infectious disease modelling specialist at Johns Hopkins University, who also developed the university's Covid-19 database. As of Friday, the US has recorded 1,088 measles cases in 2025, the highest year-to-date total in more than three decades. The vast majority of cases have affected unvaccinated individuals and have been traced to both international and domestic travel. Three deaths have occurred during the current outbreaks. Although measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000 due to the availability of a safe and effective vaccine, declining vaccination rates now threaten that status. All 50 states require two doses of the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine for public school attendance, yet non-medical exemptions reached record highs in the 2023–2024 school year. Experts emphasise that a 95 per cent vaccination rate is necessary to prevent outbreaks. The Johns Hopkins researchers analysed 2,066 counties in 33 states, comparing average kindergarten vaccination coverage from pre-pandemic years (2017–2020) with post-pandemic rates (2022–2024). When kindergarten-specific data was unavailable, alternative metrics were used to approximate coverage. Outbreaks in affected counties Since late January, Texas has reported 742 measles cases, most concentrated in West Texas. Gaines County leads with 411 cases, nearly two per cent of its population. Though vaccination coverage rose two percentage points post-pandemic, it remains at just 82.4 per cent, well below herd immunity levels. Terry and Yoakum counties, with 60 and 20 cases respectively, also fall short of the 95 per cent threshold, at 93.7 per cent and 91.8 per cent. Lubbock County, near Gaines, reported 53 cases, with coverage slipping from just under 95 per cent to 91.8 per cent. El Paso County, despite maintaining above-threshold coverage at 96.5 per cent, saw a 2.1-point decline alongside 57 reported cases. Kansas has also seen outbreaks. Gray County reported 25 cases, with vaccination coverage plunging from 94 per cent to 71 per cent. Haskell County saw an 18-point drop to 65 per cent with 11 cases, while Stevens County, with seven cases, dipped to 90.5 per cent. In Colorado, seven cases were traced to a mid-May arrival at Denver International Airport, affecting six residents and one visitor. Arapahoe County logged two cases with coverage at 88.4 per cent. El Paso County reported three cases and a drop to 80 per cent. North Dakota researchers analysed only post-pandemic years due to limited earlier data. Williams County recorded 16 cases with fluctuating coverage: 84.6 per cent in 2022, 87.7 in 2023, then falling to 83.5 per cent in 2024. Cass County, with seven cases, held steady at around 92.7 per cent. Grand Forks County reported 10 cases, with coverage dropping from 95.4 to 93.4 per cent.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store