The Marmolada glacier is in an irreversible coma and will disappear in 2040

The high-altitude climate crisis will make the Marmolada glacier disappear in less than 15 years:the "great white giant" is giving way to a white rock desert

BOLOGNA – The Marmolada glacier, the largest in the Dolomites, "is now in an irreversible coma":since 1888 it has retreated by 1,200 meters and with a rise in the height of the front of 3,500 metres. In the last five years it has lost 70 hectares of surface area, the same as 98 football pitches, going from around 170 ha in 2019 to 98 in 2023.“At this rate, the Marmolada glacier will no longer exist by 2040,” warns Legambiente, issuing the fatal verdict.“A death sentence that it shares with the two largest glaciers in the Alps, that ofAdamello, located between Lombardy and Trentino, and that of Ovens, in Lombardy, all three located below 3,500 meters and marked by significant losses in depth".Measurements on the surface conditions of the glaciers indicate that the Marmolada and Forni glaciers have short-term thickness loss peaks of seven and 10 centimeters per day respectively;while for the Adamello glacier, long-term measurements reveal that the loss of thickness resulting from glacial melting allows one to walk today on ice resulting from the snowfalls of the 1980s.

It is the bulletin of the 'Glacier Caravan 2024', the national campaign by Legambiente in collaboration with Cipra Italia and with the scientific partnership of the Italian Glaciological Committee, which today concludes its journey across the Alps with the sixth stage on the Marmolada, disseminating data on the state of health of the glacier and informing citizens on the effects of climate crisis at high altitudes.In particular, the Marmolada glacier is a super special observation:the 'Glacier Caravan' had already climbed up here in 2020 and 2022.This time he found "a glacier in great distress".

80% OF SURFACE LOST SINCE 1988

If 136 years ago the Marmodala glacier extended for around 500 hectares, and was as large as 700 football fields, since 1888 it has recorded an areal loss of more than 80% and a volumetric loss of more than 94%. In 2024 the maximum thickness is 34 meters.The accelerated melting of ice at high altitudes is giving way to a desert of white rock, smoothed by what was once the great white giant, and new ecosystems come to life.“The Alps are a fundamental place at a national and European level, but they are also increasingly fragile due to climate crisis that advances.The Marmolada glacier - declares Vanda Bonardo, national Alps manager of Legambiente and president of Cipra Italiane - is an important example: a dying glacier, marked by an acceleration of the melting process which has impressive numbers and which requires urgent responses starting from sustainable territorial governance".

The glaciological data on the Marmolada, presented today at a press conference in Padua, make this glacier "emblematic for the suffering of all Alpine glaciers - declare Valter Maggi and Marco Giardino, respectively president and vice-president of the Italian Glaciological Committee - it is a glacial body poorly nourished and suffering from climatic and anthropic pressure.Environmental transformations are impacting this glacial environment and we must take this into account for both the glaciers and the surrounding areas."

Giorgio Zampetti, general director of Legambiente, finally recalls the importance of "knowing and understanding what is happening at high altitudes but also what impacts the climate crisis is having in these mountain areas and what repercussions it is causing downstream.However, knowledge, combined with scientific research, must also be accompanied by adaptation and mitigation policies, and by interventions on a national and local scale, also involving local communities.For this reason we believe it is increasingly urgent to implement, alongside mitigation policies, an effective national adaptation plan to the climate crisis, starting from the most vulnerable areas, such as the high mountains".

“THE GLACIERS MUST BE LISTEN TO”

Testimonial of the last stage of the "Glacier Caravan" on the Marmolada is the writer and journalist Marco Albino Ferrari who, in his video message sent to Legambiente, underlines the importance of listening to the alarm cry of the glaciers.“All glaciers tell us how we should change our behavior everywhere, they act as a warning, which is why it is important to listen to them”.Legambiente invites everyone to sign the online petition "A signature for the glaciers" to ask the Government for concrete actions starting from the implementation of 7 interventions indicated in the Manifesto for glacier governance and saving our ecosystem.A petition that the environmental association launched in September.To sign just go to active landing page on the Legambiente website.