Heat, scarce snow melting Alpine glaciers

Slovenia, Oct. 17: Drop by drop, Slovenia is losing its ice. Faced with rising temperatures and declining snow in winter, the Alpine nation has seen one of its two glaciers melt away, and the remaining one shrinking irreversibly.

Slovenians know that they are no exception to the global trend of warming that scientists say partly is the result of human-induced climate change.

A record hot and dry summer in Europe this year further aggravated the situation — the glacier on Mount Triglav, Slovenia's highest peak, completely melted away by the end of the summer, while the remaining one is still holding on. It is called Skuta and is located in the Kamnik-Savinje Alps to the north.

Andrej Slak, a mountain guide, has been in the mountains for the past 35 years. The change, he said, has been especially noticeable over the past decade or so.

"We are standing here by the last remaining glacier in Slovenia," Slak showed an Associated Press reporter after the two climbed a rocky terrain to reach the remains of Skuta. "Just look at what is left of it — barely anything more than a small patch covered in grit and debris. The change is striking."