Melting glaciers in Italy: almost nothing but gray ice with dirt

One of the largest glaciers in Italy is located on Adamello. Due to climate change, it is shrinking noticeably. This has many consequences for the communities at the foot of the mountain – from tourism to water supply.

A small smile crosses Franco Capitanio’s face. He first visited the Adamello Glacier more than 40 years ago, when it was in good condition. “He was sturdy, he was strong, he was beautiful,” he says. And even in summer the view is not as demotivating as it is today, “where three-quarters of the time you look at gray ice with dirt. It was always white, even in summer.”

“Sensitive indicators of change”

The largest and most extensive glaciers in Italy are located in the Adamello mountain group on the southern edge of the Eastern Alps. But they are getting smaller and smaller at a breathtaking pace. Experts estimate that 14 million cubic meters of previously frozen water disappear every year. That corresponds to about 5600 Olympic swimming pools.

The environmental protection organization Legambiente has been sounding the alarm for a long time. Vanda Bonardo is responsible for the Alpine region: she notes that the temperature on earth has risen by about one degree since around 1850, at the end of the Little Ice Age. In the mountains, on the other hand, it has doubled. “So the effects and reverberations are much greater, and that is why the glaciers are such sensitive indicators of temperature changes.”

People’s safety at risk

The region around the mountain range is a popular destination for alpinists, glacier and hiking tours have been offered for years. But the rising temperatures are upsetting a lot, according to the director of the Adamello Park, Guido Calvi.

The main problem will be the safety of the people: “With the progressive warming and the thawing of the permafrost layers directly under the Adamello Glacier, there is a series of mass movements and thus landslides of really relevant dimensions, which then affect the valleys below and impact communities. “

Surveillance cameras should warn in good time

Surveillance cameras are designed to help warn people in good time. Many in Valcamonica, one of the valleys at the foot of the mountain range, depend on the glacier, for example in economic terms.

In the mountainous region, agricultural productivity is much lower than in the flat country. Tourism has become the most important source of income, especially in winter, explains Mauro Testini, President of the Association of Several Municipalities. He describes how they have adapted to the changing conditions over the years: almost all slopes have been equipped with snow cannons in the past 30 years.

The ski communities are arming

Only recently, the municipality of Ponte di Legno decided to build new cable cars at a higher altitude, for 25 million euros. Despite the warmer temperatures, despite the melting glaciers. At the same time, according to Testini, alternative activities to winter sports have been expanded and many mountain bike trails have been laid out.

Glaciers as storage for dry summers

The melting of the glacier also has an immediate impact on the valley, endangering the water supply. So far, the Adamello Glacier has stored a lot of precipitation, which it then gradually released so that there was sufficient water in the dry summer months. But in the long term, less water will flow from the glacier, says Guido Calvi from Adamello Park.

No doubt there will be a problem with water reserves, he says. “If the trend of the gradual melting of the glaciers continues, we will probably have to be prepared for the fact that we will have to use drinking water sparingly in summer or at least try to build up a water supply.”

Around the summit of Adamello, at least more than 3500 meters high, white snow-covered areas can still be seen in summer. But the rapid warming is changing the landscape, the deciduous trees grow to greater heights than they did a few years ago. And with that, according to Vanda Bonardo, the Alps would one day look completely different. Because at the same time there is also an increase in vegetation. And according to some scenarios, at some point there might be mountains with rocks and maybe a little green – but without ice.