NEWS · B2 Level - Part 2

Visiting These Ice Caves is Potentially Fatal

Hikers are flocking to Switzerland to see ice caves that are there for a limited time only. Never mind that they are extremely dangerous and potentially lethal.

Level: B2 · 16 sentences

Transcript

  1. Hikers are flocking to Switzerland to see ice caves that are there for a limited time only.
  2. Never mind that they are extremely dangerous and potentially lethal.
  3. These ice caves on the Morteratsch Glacier attract a crowd.
  4. "I thought it's a door to a parallel world,"
  5. "and if you go very, very deep, you might never come back."
  6. He's not totally wrong.
  7. It takes melting water to carve tunnels under the glacier's ice
  8. and warm air currents to create the spectacular ice caves.
  9. "You know, when I walk in, it's like something that is very big compared to me."
  10. "I feel like I'm a small creature when I'm in this here,"
  11. "and I feel like I'm a part of nature."
  12. Adventurous tourists understand these ice caves won't last.
  13. And if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, this entire glacier won't either.
  14. Scientists estimate the Alps' glaciers could lose more than 80% of their current mass in the next 75 years.
  15. Take your pictures now, brave tourists.
  16. There may not be many more chances for you to risk your lives in these rapidly melting caves.