Too much snow: We may have not seen much snow in Luzern this weekend, but it has caused chaos in the mountains, leading to Zermatt being cut off from the rest of the world again, as well as several train routes being cut for fear of avalanches. Some villages even had to be evacuated in the Wallis. The avalanche level in some areas remains at level 5 (the highest level), hopefully things will calm down later in the week.
Too few fish: Professional fishermen on the lake of Lucerne may very soon become a thing of the past. The reason the water is too clean! Namely the phosphorus level in the water is too low. Phosphorus is essential to plant life and is often found in fertilizer and other agricultural products. Too much of it and the oxygen levels in the water diminish, too little and there is not enough plant life for fish to feed on. The fishermen are calling on governmental help to redress this issue arguing that if nothing is done, there soon will be hardly fish left in the lake. Currently there are just 2 fishermen operating in the lake of Lucerne (versus 19 in the 70s), they average yearly catches of 6.5 kilos per hectare, whereas the three fishermen on the much smaller lake of Sempach are averaging 42 kilos per hectare. The lake of Sempach has an average phosphorus level of 42 milligrams per 1000 liters, whereas the lake of Lucerne only has 5 milligrams per 1000 liters.
Luzerners take up too much room! That is the conclusion of the city, who states that in the 80s each Luzerner had an average of 36 m2 living space, whereas nowadays it is 45 m2. The city is hoping to get people to live in 36 m2 by 2035, this in order to cope with the growing population. How they set about to achieve this is as yet quite unclear.
Eight men are currently trapped in the Hölloch cave in the Muothatal. At 200 kilometres in length it is one of the longest caves in the world. The men had been on a two day expedition so luckily had bivouacs and plenty of supplies. They were trapped by rising waters, it is unclear when they will be able to be rescued.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Saying of the day: Hesch öppis loos? Are you doing something now?[/perfectpullquote]
