Glaciers melting on country’s 2nd highest peak

HAKKARİ

An expert has warned that global warming and climate change, which are increasingly affecting Türkiye like rest of the world, are causing worrying levels of glacier melting on the Cilo Mountain in the eastern province of Hakkari, the country's second-highest peak.

Last month, two hikers were killed when the ice broke during a hike on the 4,000-meter-altitude glacier mountain. Following the deadly accident, four scientists from Istanbul University’s Geological Engineering Department conducted a study in the region.

Stating that his team has been working on Hakkari's peaks for nearly 15 years, Hüseyin Öztürk noted that the vulnerability of the glaciers has reached such dangerous dimensions for the first time.

Öztürk stated that the team observed the melting and fracturing of glaciers even at altitudes as high as 3,000 meters, pointing out that this melting causes the glaciers to become softer and stating, "We can no longer have the same level of safety when walking on a glacier."

The research conducted on glaciers is highly risky due to this intense melting and softening, the expert noted, stating that the world has entered a phase where environmental factors are causing glaciers to self-destruct, much like what happened around 34 million years ago.