What will glaciers be like in the coming decades? “It all depends on what we do now for greenhouse gas emissions.” This is the message of the scientists spread during one Esa-led expedition on the Gorner glacier in Switzerland, one of the largest ice masses in the Alps. Thus, as world leaders gather for COP26, the 26th United Nations Conference of the Parties on Climate Change, the European Space Agency unveils the exclusive preview of the documentary following
the Italian ESA astronaut
Luca Parmitano, together with a team of glaciologists and climatologists, during their trip to the Alps “to understand how rising global temperatures are causing disasters on glaciers”.
The documentary presents the breathtaking scenery of the Gorner glacier and intervenes in the documentary there are also climatologists who explain how we can monitor glaciers with satellite data and in situ measurements. The ESA documentary unfolds with speeches by Luca Parmitano and Simonetta Cheli, Head of Strategy, Program and Coordination of Earth Observation. Simonetta Cheli, who, starting from January 1, 2022, takes on the role of Director of ESA’s Earth Observation Programs and head of Esa Esrin in Frascati,
in the documentary it shows how satellites – in the beating heart of the European space center near Rome – see and scrutinize “night and day”, thanks to their sophisticated instruments, the state of health of the Earth and monitor the ice of our planet, starting with from the Arctic.
In the ESA documentary, the health of glaciers as measured by satellites and observations from space is also shown by Susanne Mecklenburg, Head of the ESA Climate Office; Anna Maria Trofaier, Cryosphere Scholar at the ESA Climate Office; Frank Paul, Senior Researcher at the University of Zurich; Alessio Romeo, geologist at La Venta – Geographical Explorations; Daniel Farinotti, glaciologist at Eth in Zurich.