• That glacier could collapse: an alarm for the Planpincieux on Mont Blanc
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  • Alarm in Val d'Aosta: the Planpincieux glacier of Mont Blanc is in danger of collapsing

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25 September 2019 Starting tomorrow, a radar will be set up to monitor the Planpincieux glacier on the Mont Blanc massif in real time, 24 hours a day, which risks collapsing on Val Ferret, above Courmayeur.

This technology - provided by the Planning, Water Resources and Territory Department of the Valle d'Aosta Region, which operates in collaboration with the Secure Mountain Foundation - will work even in conditions of poor visibility and will complement the current photographic monitoring, which has not been designed to be an alert system. At the moment, in fact, a photo is taken every day that allows, through a comparison with the previous images, to estimate the daily movement of the mass, whose speed has increased in the last days exceeding half a meter.

The mass at risk of collapse is about 250 thousand cubic meters. The alarm was given by the technical structures of the Valle d'Aosta Region and the Safe Mountain Foundation, registering an acceleration of the movement that reached the speed of 50-60 centimeters per day.

The municipality of Courmayeur with an order of the mayor, Stefano Miserocchi, ordered the closure of the municipal road of Val Ferret. The mayor has convened today, at 5.45 pm, in the town hall, a meeting with the owners, residents and operators of the Val Ferret.

Conte: Glacier alarm Mont Blanc must mobilize us all
"It is these days the news of a glacier on the Italian side of the Mont Blanc that risks collapsing. An alarm that cannot leave us indifferent and that must shake us and mobilize us all". Thus the premier Giuseppe Conte to the UN.

Impossible to predict the exact moment of the collapse
The analysis of movement data related to other observations of the Planpincieux glacial mass showed, from what reported by the Regional Structures and by the Fondazione Montagna Sicura, a potential danger of collapse, without however being able to foresee the exact moment, of a volume estimated in maximum 250,000 cubic meters. In this situation, the Municipality explains, there is no real monitoring system available that allows the activation of pre-alarms or alarms when defined thresholds are exceeded.

A disturbance is expected for today's evening that will lead to a decrease in temperatures and a light snowfall on the Mont Blanc massif. Conditions that could favor the slowing down of the unstable mass. According to the forecasts of the Valle d'Aosta weather office, a few centimeters of snow will fall in the area up to 2,200-2,300 meters.

IPCC: melting glaciers destined to grow
"The global loss of glaciers, the melting of permafrost and the decline in snow cover and extension of Arctic ice are destined to continue, due to the increase in surface air temperature, with inevitable consequences for river overflows and local risks. The magnitude of these changes in the cryosphere is set to increase further in the second half of the 21st century ". The IPCC, the UN scientific committee, writes this in its report on oceans and ice.