European Heatwaves Increase the Risk of Devastating Avalanches Across the Alps

News Briefing: 19 July 2022

Glaciologists are monitoring a new crack on the Marmolada Glacier that partially collapsed earlier this month, intensifying concerns that such unpredictable threats could become more frequent and widespread as heatwaves intensified this week across Europe. During the beginning of July, an ice shelf broke away from the Marmolada, producing an avalanche that killed eleven people. A new crack is spreading across a different part of the glacier; and it has already become more than 200 meters long and 30 meters wide. High mountain areas are warming at least twice as fast as the rest of the planet. Rising global temperatures intensify droughts and prolong summer heatwaves. These hot and dry conditions deprive mountain regions of the snow necessary to replenish glaciers during the winter months, increasing ice loss throughout the year and further weakening the ice. As temperatures continue to reach record-breaking levels across Europe, the emergence of new cracks in formerly stable glaciers underscores the danger of unpredictable landslides and avalanches.

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19072022/mountain-glaciers-heat-waves/