Swiss Alps

The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main physiographic regions. The Swiss Alps extend over both the Western Alps and the Eastern Alps, encompassing an area sometimes called Central Alps. While the northern ranges from the Bernese Alps to the Appenzell Alps are entirely in Switzerland, the southern ranges from the Mont Blanc massif to the Bernina massif are shared with other countries such as France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein.
The Swiss Alps comprise almost all the highest mountains of the Alps, such as Dufourspitze, the Dom, the Liskamm, the Weisshorn and the Matterhorn. The other following major summits can be found in this list of mountains of Switzerland.
Since the Middle Ages, transit across the Alps played an important role in history. The region north of St Gotthard Pass became the nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the early 14th century.

Geography

The Alps cover 60% of Switzerland's total surface area, making it one of the most alpine countries. Despite the fact that Switzerland covers only 14% of the Alps total area, 48 out of 82 alpine four-thousanders are located in the Swiss Alps and practically all of the remaining 34 are within of the country's border.
The glaciers of the Swiss Alps cover an area of — 3% of the Swiss territory, representing 44% of the total glaciated area in the Alps i.e..
The Swiss Alps are situated south of the Swiss Plateau and north of the national border. The limit between the Alps and the plateau runs from Vevey on the shores of Lake Geneva to Rorschach on the shores of Lake Constance, passing close to the cities of Thun and Lucerne. The not well defined regions in Switzerland that lie on the margin of the Alps, especially those on the north side, are called the Swiss Prealps . The Swiss Prealps are mainly made of limestone and they generally do not exceed.
The Alpine cantons are Valais, Bern, Grisons, Uri, Glarus, Ticino, St. Gallen, Vaud, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Schwyz, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Fribourg, Lucerne and Zug. The countries with which Switzerland shares mountain ranges of the Alps are : France, Italy, Austria, Liechtenstein and Germany.

Ranges

The Alps are usually divided into two main parts, the Western Alps and Eastern Alps, whose division is along the Rhine from Lake Constance to the Splügen Pass. The western ranges occupy the greatest part of Switzerland while the more numerous eastern ranges are much smaller and are all situated in the canton of Graubünden. The latter is part of the Central Eastern Alps, except the Ortler Alps which belong to the Southern Limestone Alps. The Pennine, Bernese and Bernina Range are the highest ranges of the country, they contain respectively 38, 9 and 1 summit over. The lowest range is the Appenzell Alps culminating at.
Western Alps
Image:Alpes centrales map-fr.svg|thumb|200px|Map of the western Swiss Alps

Location	Range	Cantons, Country	Notable peaks	East limit
From west to east, north of Rhône and Rhine	-	-	-	-
From west to east, north of Rhône and Rhine	Bernese Alps	Vaud, Fribourg, Bern, Valais	Finsteraarhorn, Aletschhorn, Jungfrau, Mönch, Eiger, Lauteraarhorn	Grimsel Pass
From west to east, north of Rhône and Rhine	Uri and Emmental Alps	Bern, Lucerne, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Uri	Dammastock, Titlis, Brienzer Rothorn, Pilatus, Napf	Reuss
From west to east, north of Rhône and Rhine	Glarus Alps and Schwyzer Alps	Schwyz, Zug, Uri, Glarus, Graubünden, Lucerne	Tödi, Bächistock, Glärnisch, Rigi, Mythen	Seeztal
From west to east, north of Rhône and Rhine	Appenzell Alps	Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, St. Gallen	Säntis, Churfirsten	Rhine
From west to east, south of Rhône and Rhine	-	-	-	-
From west to east, south of Rhône and Rhine	Chablais Alps	Valais, France	Dents du Midi	Arve
From west to east, south of Rhône and Rhine	Mont Blanc massif	Valais, France, Italy	Aiguille d'Argentière	Col Ferret
From west to east, south of Rhône and Rhine	Pennine Alps	Valais, Italy	Monte Rosa, Weisshorn, Matterhorn	Simplon Pass
From west to east, south of Rhône and Rhine	Lepontine Alps	Valais, Ticino, Uri, Graubünden	Monte Leone, Rheinwaldhorn	Splügen Pass

Eastern Alps
Image:EasternSwissAlps.jpg|thumb|200px|Map of the eastern Swiss Alps

Location	Range	Notable peaks
From west to east, north of Mera and Inn	-	-
From west to east, north of Mera and Inn	Oberhalbstein	Piz Platta
From west to east, north of Mera and Inn	Plessur	Aroser Weisshorn
From west to east, north of Mera and Inn	Albula	Piz Kesch, Piz Lunghin
From west to east, north of Mera and Inn	Rätikon	Schesaplana
From west to east, north of Mera and Inn	Silvretta	Piz Linard, Piz Buin
From west to east, north of Mera and Inn	Samnaun Alps	Muttler
From west to east, south of Mera and Inn	-	-
From west to east, south of Mera and Inn	Bregaglia	Cima di Castello, Piz Badile
From west to east, south of Mera and Inn	Bernina	Piz Bernina, Piz Roseg
From west to east, south of Mera and Inn	Livigno	Piz Paradisin
From west to east, south of Mera and Inn	Ortler Alps	Piz Murtaröl
From west to east, south of Mera and Inn	Sesvenna	Piz Sesvenna
From west to east, south of Mera and Inn	-	-

Hydrography

Rivers

The north side of the Swiss Alps is drained by the Rhône, Rhine and Inn while the south side is mainly drained by the Ticino. The rivers on the north empty into the Mediterranean, North and Black Sea, on the south the Po empty in the Adriatic Sea. The major triple watersheds in the Alps are located within the country, they are: Piz Lunghin, Witenwasserenstock and Monte Forcola. Between the Witenwasserenstock and Piz Lunghin runs the European Watershed separating the basin of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. The European watershed lies only partially on the main chain. Switzerland possesses 6% of Europe's freshwater, and is sometimes referred to as the "water tower of Europe".

Lakes

Since the highest dams are located in Alpine regions, many large mountain lakes are artificial and are used as hydroelectric reservoirs. Some large artificial lakes can be found above, but natural lakes larger than are generally below, with the exceptions of lakes in the Engadin such as Lake Sils, and Oeschinen in the Bernese Oberland. The melting of low-altitude glaciers can generate new lakes, such as the large Triftsee which formed between 2002 and 2003.

Glaciers

The last glaciations greatly transformed Switzerland's landscape. Many valleys of the Swiss Alps are U-shaped due to glacial erosion. During the maximum extension of the Würm glaciation the glaciers completely covered the Swiss Plateau, before retreating and leaving remnants only in high mountain areas. In modern times the Aletsch Glacier in the western Bernese Alps is the largest and longest in the Alps, reaching a maximum depth of 900 meters at Konkordiaplatz. Along with the Fiescher and Aar Glaciers, the region became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. An effect of the retreat of the Rhine Glacier some 10,000 years ago was the Flims Rockslide, the biggest still visible landslide worldwide.

Monitoring glacial changes over time

PERMOS is an operational monitoring service, and its main goal is to create long-term scientific documentation of the permafrost changes in the Swiss Alps. To accurately represent the current conditions of the Alps, the network records permafrost temperatures and thermal changes in boreholes, the bottom temperature of the snow cover, ground surface temperature, and the development of snow cover. The network additionally takes air photos periodically from selected areas. These monitoring strategies continue to develop as new research and data are recorded over time. The glaciers in the Swiss Alps have lost around half their volume during the last 90–120 years.

Hydroelectricity Impacts due to Glacial Melting

Switzerland has been using this concerning transition in climate as a positive opportunity to develop new innovations and to change the ways that energy is being produced in the country. Switzerland depends on the use of hydroelectricity to power nearby communities, but as glaciers melt and stop refreezing, the melting that creates the energy ceases to exist. Researchers have been evaluating how the topography will change as the glaciers begin to decrease and they are looking more deeply into potential construction costs, energy production, and future problems they might encounter with these new developments. Switzerland is one of many countries that need to begin to think about the future of energy production in response to climate change. Switzerland is paving the way for a new wave of innovation and creative problem solving that the rest of the world will eventually need to follow.