The Planpincieux glacier on the Grandes Jorasses peak on Mont Blanc, Western Europe’s highest mountain range is in danger of breaking away and collapsing. About 250,000 cubic metres of the ice from the famous tourist attraction is said to be in danger of breaking away.
The glacier is located in the Alps on the Grande Jorasses peak of Mount Blanc that straddles the borders of Italy, France and Switzerland, making it the highest mountain in the Alps. The glacier, which spreads about 1,327 square kilometres across the mountain, has been reported of consistent displacement since 2013.
Varying between moments of 30-50 cm per day, the glacier has moved up to a position of total collapse. The Mayor of Courmayeur, Stefano Miserocchi has asked local authorities to close down the mountain road and has banned access to the part of the Val Ferret, a popular hiking area outside the town of Courmayeur for safety purposes.
Officials said unusually high temperatures during Aug-Sept had accelerated the ice cap to melt faster.
Officials said unusually high temperatures during Aug-Sept had accelerated the ice cap to melt faster. Miserocchi also stated that these evacuations are not associated with the threat to residents of the towns nearby but rather is a precaution set in place as “public safety is a priority”. Most of the affected zones are said to be in the area of Val Ferret, which houses a serious of mountain huts that cater to hikers and tourists. The Time reports that there seem to be no model of the destruction the glacier is going to cause. But assured that experts have been keeping an eye on the Planpincieux glacier for a while now and expect the glacier to fall anytime soon.
A new special report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projected that the glaciers around Greenland, Antartica and Europe are losing about 220 billion metric tons of ice per year. The greenhouse gas emissions have in general are expected to shrink glacier around the world by 36% by the end of the century, calling upon more action by world leaders and politicians to incorporate climate action into their public policies.
