Plate 3.10 Glacier Parameters and Their Changes, 1850–2000

Inventories of glaciers in the Swiss Alps dating from around 1850, 1973 and around 2000 provide a comprehensive and unique compilation of data. They have been used as a basis for the characterisation of ice-cover in Switzerland in the present plate, which also shows changes during glacier recession since the maximum extent reached in 1850. According to the data in the inventories there are around 2000 glaciers in the Swiss Alps today.