Despite the candid appearance due to early late-summer snowfalls and one of the snowiest years of the last thirty years, the glacier continues to retreat. 90% of the volume has been lost in one century
BELLUNO. The surface and volume of the Marmolada glacier continue to shrink. This is confirmed by the annual measurements carried out on the glacier front by geographers and glaciologists from the University of Padua, who paint an increasingly bleak picture of the state of health of the most important glacier in the Dolomites every year.
“Despite the candid appearance due to early late-summer snowfalls and one of the snowiest years of the last thirty years – he says Mauro Varotto, in charge of the measurements for the Italian Glaciological Committee – the Marmolada glacier continues its inexorable retreat: the measurements made in these days on the 9 frontal signals in fact record an average retreat of over 6 meters compared to last year ».
«The measures – he says Aldino Bondesan,coordinator of the glaciological campaigns for the Triveneto and author of surveys on the thickness of the ice using georadar together with Roberto Francese of the University of Pavia – they traditionally take place by recording the position of the glacial fronts with respect to known signals. Alongside these, state-of-the-art technologies are now used that make it possible to explore the interior of the glacier and thus determine the volumes at stake. In the case of the Marmolada, what we record is that the volume lost in a hundred years reaches almost 90%, which is extremely significant ».
“Everyone can see that the glaciers of the Dolomites are in retreat. Measuring the evolution of glaciers is important both from a numerical, scientific, historical and cultural point of view. ARPAV performs environmental monitoring of snow and air parameters to respond to the scientific world – adds Mauro Valt, ARPAV technical researcher -, but also to give correct and correct information to the public observing these increasingly smaller retreating glaciers, a signal of something that is changing in our environment ».
In order to raise awareness of its research activities and raise public awareness of the dramatic effects of climate change, the Geography Museum in 2019 launched the initiative “Let’s measure the Marmolada glacier together”, a participatory glaciological campaign carried out in collaboration with the Glaciological Committee Italian, ARPAV and Legambiente, now in its third edition this year.
“The balance of the 2021 edition is certainly positive – observes Giovanni Donadelli, curator of the Museum – about thirty participants including students, teachers, professionals and simply curious, from 5 different regions, joined us, in the two days of work, to learn about the geography of the Marmolada Glacier, understand which methods and tools are used to measure glaciers and participate directly in the measurement operations. It was an opportunity for them to see some of the instruments usually exhibited in the museum in action and thus get closer to the intangible heritage of geographical research in the field ».
«The Marmolada – he concludes Alberto Lanzavecchia, professor of Corporate Finance at the University of Padua – is an educational theater for those who want to learn and know the mountains as a teacher of life. Today we are witnessing how the economy is changing these mountains: on the one hand, by covering some portions of the glacier with sheets, man is trying to fight climate change to anticipate the winter ski season, which with difficulty resists; on the other hand we continue to interfere with the glacier, as evidenced by the study of the waste that its retreat releases among the rocks: from the remnants of the World War, to those of old shacks and accommodation facilities, or of today’s skiers and hikers who, by rubbing their technical clothing or losing their masks, unknowingly contribute to releasing microplastics into the glacier ».
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