Photo "Connection revival"

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Connection revival

photographer:

francis santo add to favorites

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mountains winter

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Linth river channel (the very thin line you might think is a road), incoming from Glarus (entry point not visible), the only dead end swiss canton (in winter), for a short pause at the lake where I live (Walensee) before continuing to the lake of Zьrich.
Shot at the special Sell run, Amden, at 1300 m altitude.

Connection revival
Until 1822 the Linth ran directly into the Lake of Zьrich.
The water connection between both lakes was very important.
Just a few days after this shot a boat was launched to water where I live, planned for a touristic revival of this connection, after many decades.

Global climate change now ...
Amden is a prime area to observe climate change at work. It has been the first time in at least five years where there was snow in March up here.
Landslides and destroyed forests (like on top of the visible hill on the left) are impossible to ignore.

... and local climate change 200 years ago
250 years ago the pace of destruction of the forests protecting the very steepy hills of the Glarus valley rapidly accelerated.
The consequence was erosion that lead to the Linth river starting to deposit sediments between both lakes so fast that the waters of Walensee couldn`t flow any longer fast enough to the lake of Zьrich. It even started flowing backwards.
The area in between turned into a swamp. Malaria, swamp fever and tuberculosis spread out; catastrophic floods plagued the Walensee.
(to be continued) 

published:

Tue 6 Apr 2004 03:21

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HP 945

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