New measurements
Highest mountain in Western Europe – Mont Blanc has shrunk
Mont Blanc photographed from Italy
© Image Broker / Imago Images
Mont Blanc was precisely measured by researchers over several days. They discovered that the famous mountain in the French Alps has become smaller.
The decline could be due to lower rainfall in the summer, the chief surveyor in the Haute-Savoie department, Jean des Garets, told journalists in Chamonix on Thursday. When Mont Blanc is surveyed again in two years, it could be “much larger,” he added.
Mont Blanc was meticulously surveyed
The researchers collected the data “for future generations,” des Garets said. “We’re not here to interpret them, we’ll leave that to the scientists.”
Equipped with the most modern measuring equipment and, for the first time, even a drone, the researchers climbed the mountain in September to measure it point by point over several days.
The mountain’s rocky peak is 4,792 meters above sea level, while the height of its thick blanket of snow and ice varies from year to year depending on the weather. Since 2001, researchers have been determining the height of the mountain every two years. They hope to obtain information about the effects of climate change on the Alps.
So far they have learned that the summit is “constantly changing in height and position,” said Garets chief surveyor. Fluctuations of up to five meters are not unusual.
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