Rising Temperatures Produced a Deadly Glacier Collapse in Italy

News Briefing: 4 July 2022

At least seven people were killed and fourteen are missing after a glacial ice shelf collapsed in the northern Italian Alps last week. The combination of prolonged summer heatwaves with unusually warm winter conditions weakened the base of the Marmolada glacier over several years, creating an unstable overhanging ice shelf that unexpectedly collapsed. Over the past two decades, this glacier has lost more than 30% of its ice. High-elevation glaciers such as the Marmolada depend on cold temperatures and snowfall during the winter to stabilize the ice. As global temperatures rise, ice melt accelerates throughout the entire year. The loss of glaciers in the Alps poses a long-term threat to local communities as well; downstream regions of Italy are currently experiencing the worst drought in 70 years, with many areas recording all-time records for heat in June. Rising global temperatures accelerate the retreat of glaciers across the Alps, making the high mountains of Europe increasingly dangerous and unpredictable. The Marmolada glacier collapse is a tragedy reflecting the enormous and devastating consequences of climate change.