Warning of the risk of Mont Blanc glacier collapsing.

Mayor Stefano Miserocchi of Courmayeur (Italy) said that the estimated area is around 250,000 m².³Ice may have broken off from the 4,800-meter-high Mont Blanc glacier. He decided to close two routes and evacuate climbing activities after experts warned that a section of the glacier was sliding down at a rate of 50-60 cm/day and was accelerating, threatening the Ferret Valley.

Mr. Miserocchi emphasized that this is a consequence of climate change.

At the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte reminded the international community of the urgent need for action on climate change. He stated that the risk of a section of the Mont Blanc glacier collapsing was a "clear" warning. Previously, numerous scientific studies had also warned that global warming threatened to melt permafrost and cause glaciers to gradually disappear.

Environmental activists in Switzerland held a "funeral" for the Pizol glacier in the Glarus Alps last Monday. The glacier has lost 90% of its volume compared to 2006. A similar event was held in Iceland in August 2019.

The record-breaking heatwave in Europe this past summer is believed to have also contributed to the accelerated melting of glaciers.

Huong Thao