Alien world under Austria's doomed glaciers tells tale of their collapse

Glaciologist Andrea Fischer, from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, stands at the entrance of a natural glacier cavity of the Jamtalferner glacier near Galtuer, Austria, October 15, 2021. Giant ice caves have appeared in glaciers accelerating the melting process faster than expected as warmer air rushes through the ice mass until it collapses. Picture taken October 15, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

JAMTALFERNER GLACIER, Austria (Reuters) - Scientists are venturing inside otherworldly ice caves growing beneath Austria's doomed glaciers to study why they are melting even faster than expected, and understand the fate that will befall glaciers elsewhere if climate change is not halted.

It is already too late to save the glaciers of the eastern Alps, which scientists now say are past the point of no return and will be gone completely in the next few decades.