Valmalenco, Province of Sondrio. On August 15, 1895 the geologist Luigi Marson planted the first detection points on the Ventina glacier. Since then, for 130 years, the Lombard Glaciological service has accurately measured the withdrawal of the glacial front. This summer that long historical series has stopped: the glacier is now so eroded and unstable that traditional measurement tools can no longer be used.
The news was confirmed by the Lombard glaciological service, which explained how the reference cornerstones were buried by landslides and debris, making it impossible to access safely.
After 130 years the historical series of traditional frontal measures is exhausted in Lombardy. (…) The continuous retreat of the forehead, which has become exceptional in recent years (431 meters in the last 10 years, 191 only since 2021) has drastically modified morphology, now formed in large part by ice plaques buried by the debris and disjointed by the main mass. A series of recent inspections made it possible to ascertain how the last measure of measure in use has been covered by debris. At the same time the actual forehead has repositioned itself above a rocky jump, making access difficult.
According to data collected in over a century of monitoring, the Ventina glacier has lost 1.7 kilometers long from 1895 to today. Only in the last ten years the retreat was 431 meters, the equivalent of four football fields. Historical images show an evident transformation: from a white and compact language to an increasingly gray landscape, made of rocks, isolated plates and impetuous streams fueled by accelerated fusion.
View this post on Instagram
Alps, European climatic hotspot
The Ventina case fits into a wider picture. The Alps are considered a “climatic hotspot”, with an average increase in double temperatures compared to the global average from the pre -industrial era. In this context, Alpine glaciers have lost over 64% of their volume since 1850.
A study published in Nature estimated that glaciers in the world have lost around 231 billion tons of mass per year between 2000 and 2011. In the following years the rhythm has increased up to 314 billion tons per year.
Consequences for water and safety
The Lombard glaciological service underlines how the summer glacial merger, fundamental for feeding streams and rivers of northern Italy, is becoming increasingly reduced and irregular. At the same time, the loss of ice makes the mountain slopes more unstable, increasing the risk of landslides and floods.
In the case of the twenty, the conditions are so critical that “access is hindered by the strong flow of the Aberto torrent fed by the glacier” continues the Sgl press release, highlighting how the recent heat waves have increased the amount of water downloaded in a few days.
New monitoring techniques
The stop to traditional measurements does not mean the end of monitoring. “Starting from the next few years, the reliefs of the glacier will continue using other investigation methods, such as photogrammetry from drone and remoteeling,” explains Sgl.
According to the models developed by the Polytechnic of Zurich, the twenty can preserve over half of its residual volume from here to the end of the century only if the emissions of climalterant gases will be drastically reduced and the global warming contained within +2 ° C. In the worst scenarios, however, the glacier would be reduced by 90%, surviving only with a small portion below the Mount Disgrazia.
To keep memory and sensitize visitors and hikers alive, the Lombard glaciological service invites to travel the “Vittorio Sella” glaciological path, created in 1992 and recently updated. Along the way it is possible to observe, thanks to the billboard, the different phases of advance and retreat of the glacier with a small glacial age to date.
Don’t you want to lose our news?
