COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Minnesota Gov.

, in the southern Lötschental valley, because the rock face above the Birch Glacier had become unstable when mountain permafrost melted, causing debris to fall and cover the glacier in recent years, said Martin Truffer, a physics professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks who studies how glaciers move.While the debris insulated the glacier and slowed melting, its weight caused the ice to begin moving — which accelerated dramatically a few weeks ago. Authorities ordered the evacuation of

, as well as all livestock, from the village in recent days, “when it became clear that there’s a whole mountainside that’s about to collapse,” said Truffer, who is from Switzerland.An aerial view shows the destruction of Blatten, Switzerland, Thursday, May 29, 2025, one day after a massive debris avalanche, triggered by the collapse of the Birch Glacier, swept down to the valley floor and demolished large parts of the village. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)An aerial view shows the destruction of Blatten, Switzerland, Thursday, May 29, 2025, one day after a massive debris avalanche, triggered by the collapse of the Birch Glacier, swept down to the valley floor and demolished large parts of the village. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)

Lakes that form at the base of glaciers as they melt and retreat also sometimes burst, often with catastrophic results. Water can even lift an entire glacier, allowing it to drain, said Truffer, adding that Alaska’s capital of Juneau has flooded in recent years because a lake forms every year on a rapidly retreating glacier and eventually bursts.In 2022, an apartment building-sized chunk of the

in Italy’s Dolomite mountains detached during a summer heat wave, sending an avalanche of debris down the popular summer hiking destination, killing 11.

A glacier in Tibet’s Aru mountain range suddenly collapsed in 2016, killing nine people and their livestock, followed a few months later by the collapse of another glacier.called “Somewhere to Roost.”

The collection of 60 pieces explores artists’ conceptions of home in paintings, illustrations, folk art objects, collages, blanket chests, quilts and family photographs.The exhibition’s title piece, “‘Birds Gotta Have Somewhere to Roost” by Thornton Dial Sr., is a collage of weathered wood, burlap, carpet and tin. At first glance, it’s a scramble of tossed-away scraps. But consider the title and you imagine something else: birds gathering the bits to make a nest. Dial’s work, including many such assemblages of found materials, are in museum collections around the U.S.

Birds are depicted in a pen-and ink drawing made in the 1800s by V.H. Furnier, an artist and penmanship teacher in Indiana, Pennsylvania. It includes the words “Home Sweet Home,” and above it an avian pair, one of them carrying a sprig with the words “Spare the Birds.”New Englander Joseph E. Clapp’s beautiful birdcage is another standout. Made of Peruvian mahogany and whalebone with petite brass pins, it’s a marvel of construction. Clapp was a master mariner who worked on whale boats in the 1850s. When he retired, he created a bird sanctuary in Peru. He finally returned to Nantucket, where he was often seen strolling the streets with his pets in their cages.