 The body of a German climber who has been missing since 1986 has been uncovered on a melting glacier in Switzerland. The climber, who has not yet been named, was discovered earlier this month by climbers crossing the Theodul glacier above Zermatt, close to the country's famous Matterhorn mountain. They spotted a hiking boot and crampons poking out from the ice, the BBC reports. DNA analysis showed the body was that of a 38-year-old climber from Germany who went missing 37 years ago. A massive search and rescue operation reportedly took place at the time, but failed to find the man. Almost every summer a missing person or object is uncovered across Alpine glaciers as climate change causes them to rapidly melt and shrink. Last year, the wreckage of a plane that crash in 1968 was revealed in the thawing Aletsch glacier. The receding Lower Theodul (right) and Triftji glaciers descend from the Breithorn plateau on the Swiss/Italian border near Zermatt in Switzerland (Picture: Sean Gallup/Getty Images) In 2014, a helicopter pilot spotted the remains of missing British climber Jonathan Conville, who vanished in 1979, while he was delivering supplies to a mountain refuge on the Matterhorn. The following year two Japanese climbers who had not been seen since 1970 were found on the edge of the Matterhorn glacier. The melting ice has even managed to alter the border between Italy and Switzerland. Previously it was determined by the drainage divide, which is the point where melted water runs down towards one country or the other. But the shrinking glacier caused the position to change last year, leaving the two governments delicately negotiating a new border. The impact of melting Alpine glaciers is far greater than border issues and bodies being uncovered however. They melt water from glaciers cool the rivers, ensuring the water doesn't overheat and kill fish. And the winter snow they st){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
The body of a German climber who has been missing since 1986 has been uncovered on a melting glacier in Switzerland.
The climber, who has not yet been named, was discovered earlier this month by climbers crossing the Theodul glacier above Zermatt, close to the country’s famous Matterhorn mountain.
They spotted a hiking boot and crampons poking out from the ice, the BBC reports.
DNA analysis showed the body was that of a 38-year-old climber from Germany who went missing 37 years ago.