Unusual heatwaves that reached unthinkable peaks until a few days ago, as in the case of the UK, where 40.2ºC was recorded at Heatrow Airport, the highest temperature ever recorded London. But this is just the tip of the iceberg of something that has been unfolding before our eyes for years and of which we can speak with the tragedy of the Marmolada, whose glacier It didn’t hold up and caused a road of walkers. To find out more and take stock, we contacted Prof. Valter Maggi, Full Professor of Physical Geography at the Bicocca University of Milan and President of the Italian Glaciological Committee.
How worrying is the current heat wave that, as we saw on Giornale.it, has caused a jump to 4,800 meters to freeze?
“What happens is a situation fantastic But in the wake of what has happened over the last 40-50 years, the warming is affecting the Alps, one of the areas most affected by the rise in temperatures, far more than those affecting the global rise. It is evident that if we add the weather-climatic mechanism that has caused temperatures to reach very high values and that shifts the freezing point beyond 4,500 meters, it becomes clear that this is particularly important for the glaciers, now in retreat, has suffered another blow to their mass.
Why are the Alps suffering the most from climate change?
“The Alps are located in a climatic zone, the Mediterranean, which is generally one of a increase Temperature higher than the planetary mean. High mountain areas are areas where the impacts are more significant for their location, and the same happens in arctic areas with higher temperature rises than elsewhere. The Alps are on the edge of the Mediterranean and values have doubled, maybe even more.”
What is the state of health of the glaciers?
“Alpine glaciers conquer each other withdraw out decades. Recently, shrinkage has become even more important, gradually they decrease both on the surface and in volume. This situation affects almost all glaciers in the world: we at the Glaciological Committee have existed since 1895 and have generally always recorded declines, with the exception of a few cases. It’s a negative consequence.”
What is the status of the payout?
“Glaciers have retreated since they last made significant advance in the so-called Little Ice Age, which peaked in the mid to late 19th century. Some of them have also retired 90% In terms of area, others have had a bit better luck with 40-50% shrinkage. We believe that our arc of the Alps is quite asymmetrical, the highest mountains are in the western part, Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa to name just two examples. As we move east they are lower on average and it is evident that as temperatures rise, glaciers occupy the highest parts of the mountains.
What are the reasons for this withdrawal?
“The reason is this heating global climate that we are going through at its most convulsive phase in the last 50 years. Most of the temperature rise has occurred since the late 1970s and early 1980s. Since then we have had a steadily increasing trend and that means when the mean global thermal increase is around one degree, there are areas where it is obviously higher, as is the case in the Alps.
What does the Marmolada tragedy teach us?
“It was a tragedy that happened in a situation imponderable. It happened in the middle of summer, on a Sunday afternoon, when a chunk of ice covering an important trail to the summit collapsed. There was a particularly unfortunate set of effects that led to this tragedy. It is clear that as the altitude increases, the glaciers reach areas where there is greater inclination, the high temperatures provide a large quantity of water. If the situation is no longer stable because the glacier is exposed to a fairly high internal pressure, blocks break off. Usually it’s not new, it happens elsewhere too, but 99% of the time it’s in places where nobody is.
Are there measures that can slow down this retreat?
“Yes indeed, turning back the trend towards rising temperatures by limiting emissions, reducing them as much as possible to ensure that this trend changes significantly. This is the only way we can significantly influence our glaciers. These are ecosystems that are integrated into the natural system: when the temperature rises, the entire glacial ecosystem adapts and that’s what happens. Direct intervention is not possible: there are 903 glaciers in the Alps, 90% of which are located in a place that is also quite difficult to reach”.
What could be the consequences of this situation?
“Glaciers are shrinking and everything related to it, from water to tourism, will gradually face increasing difficulties. There are nice shelters overlooking the glaciers, but they are no longer visible, to give a trivial example. Tourist attraction will be a problem, it will be necessary to adjust with these conditions”.
Should we prepare to adapt?
“Of course we have to adapt: climate change is all about adaptation. Mitigation can only happen in some cases. Let’s remember that around 40 million inhabitants live in the Alps, we are not talking about a remote place in the mountains. alaska . No wonder the issue can become even more important, but it’s not new today, it’s been talked about for decades.”
What would the customization consist of?
“It will have the ability to understand this mountain It changes, it changes very quickly. It is no longer possible to see a mountain like 30-40 years ago, it is always beautiful but different. Glaciers change extremely quickly, and anything that changes quickly needs to be adjusted very quickly. Some situations need to be reconsidered, the most classic example being high mountain skiing. Important ski areas are slowly running out of snow”.
Is the rate of global warming man-made or is it a natural process?
“To make a living, I have to read the lScientific literature: For 40 years all scientific articles have been pointing in the same direction that there is a strong human influence on the atmosphere and as a result climate change. I’m not saying, my topic is paleoclimate, that’s the history before man, I know natural history before man influenced the climate system. I don’t think I’ve ever read articles to the contrary, then it’s clear that in the internet world, anyone can write whatever they want. When all of the scientific literature is pointing in the same direction, there is a suspicion that there is something real. I always tell my students that they pay my salary, regardless of whether climate change is man-made or not, nothing changes for me. What I have to go through is the scientific information coming from the scientific community.”