Suspense at the Eiger

An enormous rockfall is about to happen on the east flank of the Eiger massif, in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland. This Google page captures much of the Alpine press coverage, which has been going on for weeks as a 2-million-cubic-meter rock body has been edging away from the mountain. If the rockfall blocks the glacier below, it could build up floodwaters for a double whammy. Today the Guardian brought English readers up to date. The apparent cause, from the shrinking of a glacier that once supported the cliff's base, is cited as an indirect result of global warming. Rockfalls have increased in the Alps in recent years.