Italy's second largest glacier is melting at an alarming rate, warns Italian climate organization Legambiente. Activists have posted a video online showing the effects of high temperatures that have been continuing on the Apennine Peninsula since July.
According to Legambiente, the Dei Forni glacier, located in the Stelvio National Park in Lombardy, is melting both day and night. Since the beginning of July, its surface at an altitude of 2,650 and 2,600 meters has been shrinking by about four to eight centimeters each day. The total loss of thickness in the frontal areas is approaching two meters.
Witness to climate change
The increasingly difficult situation of Dei Forni also worries scientists.
– The glacier is an involuntary and silent witness to the impact of humans on the environment and climate change – said Professor Guglielmina Diolaiuti from the University of Milan, member of the Italian Glaciological Committee.
The melting ice has also exposed unexploded bombs from World War I, Legambiente said in a statement. The front of the glacier is covered in sediments from polluted air, as well as lead (left over from the war), which is causing it to melt even faster.
– We are talking about a shrinking glacier, despite the heavy snowfalls that occurred in April and May – warned Vanda Bonardo from Legambiente.
Main image source: Reuters