“Because of the heat, they also melt at night”

“A day earlier, and I too would have been in danger.” Christian Ferrari stood near the Marmolada glacier on Saturday July 2nd. A day later, a piece broke off. Eleven people died†

Ferrari is the head of the glacier committee of the association of mountaineers of northern Italy Trento. The volunteer club, together with the local authorities, monitors the glaciers in the region and is responsible for the safety of the hiking trails.

Experts quickly agreed on the cause of the mass of broken ice on the Marmolada. It had been much warmer than usual in the Alps for weeks, warming the rock under the glacier and creating a stream of meltwater inside the glacier. “There is then a thermal stress, which can lead to the collapse”, explains Ferrari.

The unusual heat is no coincidence. The average temperature in the Alps has increased by 2 degrees over the last century due to climate change. A relatively strong increase compared to other regions.

But it’s impossible for Ferrari to say whether last week’s glacial disaster is directly due to climate change. “It’s like saying that humans are responsible for the collapse of the Marmolada. Glaciers and mountains are what they are because they are constantly collapsing. The rocks you see at the foot of a mountain were once at the top. They still are.”

This is not only a bad year for the Marmolada, but also for the other glaciers in the Alps. At an altitude of about 2500 meters, the temperature is now 16 degrees. It also stopped freezing at night for weeks.

Correspondent Heleen D’Haens visited the Presanella glacier in northern Italy with Christian Ferrari. In the video, he shows the consequences of climate change on the glacier:

Mirco Dezulian, manager of a mountain refuge near the Presanella glacier, looks on with regret. “We used to have a big snowstorm every month, even in the summer. But it hasn’t snowed for about eight years now. The glacier is gray, it lacks the freshness of the snow.”

Besides the mountain hut manager, Deluzian is also an experienced mountaineer. It begs the question of whether rising temperatures are making mountaineering more dangerous. “Just because a disaster happened on the Marmolada doesn’t mean it will happen anywhere in the Alps. You can still climb well here.”

What’s important, he says, is to monitor the temperature closely. “It has the most important role in expeditions, in relation to landslides and rockfalls.” In any case, he always advises customers to leave as soon as possible. “As soon as the sun comes up, the temperatures rise, everything starts to melt and the situation changes. But that’s nothing new: it’s always been the custom of mountaineers to start early.”

Could the Marmolada disaster be avoided? Were there any signs on the wall, and should action have been taken based on that? The Italian public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into the matter last week. “But even if the disaster could have been avoided, it is not certain that there was negligence,” the prosecutor told local media. He does not want to give the families of the victims the illusion that a culprit can be found.

There is certainly no culprit, underlines Christian Ferrari. According to him, this hypothesis shows little knowledge about glaciers. “Thinking you can control every crevasse in a glacier is like thinking you can control every bend on a highway. It’s possible. But you need an agent for every bend. It’s impossible. “