(News)
– He was a renowned climate scientist who studied his life melting ice in the Arctic and warned the world about the consequences. And it was such great dangers that claimed the life of Konrad Steffen, reports USA Today. The 68-year-old fell through ice at his Swiss camp in Greenland and drowned in the waterlogged creek. Steffen had collaborated with other investigators and went above a designated safety zone, apparently disoriented in windy, low-visibility conditions, a co-investigator tells CBS News. “Ultimately, it seems that climate change is actually taking its toll,” said Ryan Neely III, a climate scientist at the University of Leeds. New York Times.
Steffen was a beloved, magical figure in his field known as “Koni.” He once served as the Scientific Director at the Swiss Polar Institute, and he also headed the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder, per the Daily camera. Al Gore was one of the tributes. “Koni’s famous work as a glaciologist has been a tool for a deeper understanding of the world of the climate crisis,” wrote the former VP. Researchers knew the crevasse in which Steffen fell existed, but Neely adds that such crevasses were “not too long ago” – before warming began to take a toll on the ice sheet. In this video from a few years ago, Steffen explains the changes taking place around his station. (Read more Arctic stories.)
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