This year, the annual measurement of Kebnekaise’s south peak was carried out on September 9. The height was then measured at 2094.6 meters above sea level, the same height as at the end of summer 2021.
– The loss of glaciers in Sweden was moderate during the summer of 2022 and Kebnekaise’s southern peak was able to maintain its height, says Nina Kirchner, docent in glaciology and director of the Tarfala research station at Stockholm University.
Decreased sharply in the last 20 years
The research station is responsible, among other things, for reporting mass balance data from Swedish glaciers to the World Glacier Monitoring Service in Switzerland. In the Alps in particular, there have been alarms about extreme mass losses – but not here.
– Mass losses are subdued compared to recent years. We were hoping for small changes at Kebnekaise’s south peak and are happy to confirm that with our measurement, says Jamie Barnett, Research Engineer at Tarfala Research Station.
During the last two decades, the height of the southern peak has decreased by about 0.7 meters per year.