Italian homes evacuated over risk of Mont Blanc
glacier collapse
Roads near Courmayeur closed to tourists because of
threat from falling Planpincieux ice
Angela
Giuffrida in Rome
Thu 6 Aug
2020 14.02 BSTLast modified on Thu 6 Aug 2020 14.25 BST
Homes have
been evacuated in Courmayeur in Italy’s Aosta valley, after a renewed warning
that a huge portion of a Mont Blanc glacier is at risk of collapse.
The
measures were introduced on Wednesday morning after experts from the Fondazione
Montagne Sicura (Safe Mountains Foundation) said 500,000 cubic metres of ice
was in danger of sliding off the Planpincieux glacier on the Grandes Jorasses
park.
Some 65
people, including 50 tourists, have left homes in Val Ferret, the hamlet
beneath the glacier. Roads have been closed to traffic and pedestrians.
“We will
find [alternative] solutions for residents,” Stefano Miserocchi, the mayor of
Courmayeur, told the Italian news agency Ansa. “The tourists will have to find
other solutions.”
Glaciologists
monitoring Planpincieux say a new section of ice is at risk of collapse. Homes
were also evacuated in September last year following a warning that 250,000
cubic meters of ice could fall. The movement of the glacial mass was due to
“anomalous temperature trends”, the experts said.
The glacier
has been closely monitored since 2013 to detect the speed at which the ice is
melting.
In August
2018, a heavy storm unleashed a debris flow, killing an elderly couple when
their car was swept from the road that is currently closed.
In the
event of a collapse, it would take less than two minutes for the mass to reach
the municipal road below.
Safe Mountain Foundation experts are monitoring 184
glaciers in the Aosta valley region.
There are
4,000 glaciers across the Mont Blanc massif, the highest mountain range in
Europe, which straddles Italy, France and Switzerland.
Scientists
predict that if emissions continue to rise at the current rate, the Alpine
glaciers could shed half of their ice by 2050.
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