Marmolada collapse, glacier lost 85% volume in a century

The Marmolada glacier – where an avalanche occurred yesterday with the collapse of a ridge – between 1905 and 2010 lost more than 85% of its volume. In the last decade there has been an acceleration of the phenomena of glacial melting: the trend line that up to 2000 allowed us to predict an exhaustion over the span of a century has subsequently changed, so much so as to predict the disappearance of the glacier within the next 15/20 years. These are the data from the Caravan of glaciers, the Legambiente campaign which, together with the Italian Glaciological Committee, has been monitoring the state of health of alpine glaciers since 2020. In addition to the Marmolada, the data also indicate a worrying situation for several other Alpine glaciers. From the last glacier caravan monitoring carried out in the summer of 2021, it emerged that the thirteen alpine glaciers monitored plus the Calderone glacier in Abruzzo lose surface and thickness, fragmenting and disintegrating into smaller glacial bodies. The Adamello glaciers have lost more than 50% of the total surface, those of the Gran Paradiso about 65%. In South Tyrol 168 glaciers have fragmented into 540 distinct units. The eastern Canin glacier in Friuli today has an average thickness of 11.7 m, -80 m compared to 150 years ago. The Calderone glacier, since 2000, has divided into two glacial valleys and responds to climatic fluctuations much faster than the glaciers present in the Alps. “Alpine glaciers are in red code – explains Vanda Bonardo, national head of Legambiente Alpi – Nell last century they have lost at least 50% of their surface. Of this 50%, 70% have disappeared in the last 30 years with an unprecedented acceleration in recent years. The combination of mild climate and lack of snow in winter 2021/2022 added to the high temperatures of these days constitute a sort of perfect storm for the mountain, making it much more fragile and dangerous. Streams of water can be seen everywhere on the glaciers, the impetuous torrents that derive from them tell of an unparalleled haemorrhage. Last screams of an agony that we should take as a warning to change. For this reason it is essential to implement innovative local development choices with strong mitigation and adaptation actions for tourism as for all other areas. A message that we will also relaunch with the next edition of the Glacier Caravan, which in mid-August is ready to return to high altitude to monitor the Alpine glaciers, including that of the Marmolada where we were in 2020 on the occasion of the first edition “.