The natural disaster shows a volatile combination of climate change effects, fragile natural environments and human development.

At around 3:30 pm local time, a huge collapse occurred on the Birch Glacier, emergency services in the Wallis region said.

At around 3:30 pm local time, a huge collapse occurred on the Birch Glacier, emergency services in the Wallis region said.

Video shows a huge cloud of ice and scree spewing over the Swiss village of Blatten on Wednesday, dwarfing tiny Alpine lodges as a chunk of the Birch glacier broke off

The Birch glacier in Switzerland's southern Valais region collapsed yesterday, sending millions of tons of rock, ice and scree hurtling down the mountain slope and into the valley…

The natural disaster shows a volatile combination of climate change effects, fragile natural environments and human development.