Cactus Appears on the Swiss Alps, What Next?

Cactus are not generally thought of as being a plant growing in the mountainous regions of Switzerland. Recently the plants have shown up and are proliferating wildly in a region called the Valais.

They seem to be replacing the snow in areas that no longer get that in winter.

Stopping their spread will not be easy, as you can cut them down, but they grow back from the roots.

Cacti are native to North America, and flourish from British Columbia and Canada as far south as Argentina and Chile. They can survive in really harsh conditions.

The spread of cacti in Switzerland is a worry to environmentalists as it indicates a worsening state of climate change.

"In some parts of Valais, we estimate that the cacti can occupy one-third of the available surface," says Yann Triponez, a biologist who works in the canton of Valais' nature protection service told the outlet. The experts think that the warmer climate of the Alps, which extends the length of the growing season, and the retreating snow may be fostering their growth. - NDTV News

 

That's one way of looking at it!

Certainly in these times we can expect abnormality to be the new world order... on all too many levels of existence.