Ice caves grow despite warming

[Wayne Harrison]

By Bethany Bell
BBC News, Werfen, Austria

Ice formations are developing earlier than usual

<img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42411000/jpg/_42411882_alpsiciclesfrigga_203b.jpg" align="left">Deep inside the Tennengebirge mountains lies a frozen world.


The Eisriesenwelt ice caves at Werfen near the Austrian city of Salzburg are said to be the largest in the world.


Warmer temperatures in the Alps have been causing concern about the future of glaciers and of the ski industry in the region.

But the ice in the Eisriesenwelt ("World of the Ice Giants") has actually grown by a third since the 1920s.


And there has been a marked increase in the growth of ice over the past 15 to 20 years.


<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6227842.stm">Full Story</a>