{"id":21992,"date":"2026-09-09T04:12:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T04:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=21992"},"modified":"2026-09-09T04:12:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T04:12:28","slug":"not-just-nepal-how-climate-change-puts-european-alps-under-threat-of-glacial-retreat-and-rock-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=21992","title":{"rendered":"Not just Nepal: How climate change puts European Alps under threat of glacial retreat and rock fall"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-133949558,imgsize-210144,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/france-mont-blanc-climate-change.jpg\" alt=\"Not just Nepal: How climate change puts European Alps under threat of glacial retreat and rock fall\" title=\"Tourists look at the Mont-Blanc massif mountains and the 'Mer de Glace' glacier at the Montenvers station in Chamonix, France (Photo: AP).\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"Tourists look at the Mont-Blanc massif mountains and the 'Mer de Glace' glacier at the Montenvers station in Chamonix, France (Photo: AP).\">Tourists look at the Mont-Blanc massif mountains and the &#8216;Mer de Glace&#8217; glacier at the Montenvers station in Chamonix, France (Photo: AP).<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Climate change is increasingly becoming a threat to the snow-clad European Alps, amid initial investigations associating the August 26 Nepal tragedy with rising temperatures.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"2\"\/>Average temperatures in July, on the Aiguille du Midi peak, in the Mont Blanc range, have more than doubled, from 1.6 C in 1994 to 3.3 C, according to Meteo France, the national weather service.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"4\"\/>In Lombardy, Italy, Alpine glaciers have reportedly lost more than 40 per cent of their surface area since 1991, according to the region&#8217;s glacier service.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"6\"\/>Europe&#8217;s record heat waves this summer have also affected the permafrost that has held parts of the Alpine landscape together for thousands of years. <!-- -->As the frozen ground thaws, cliffs have become more unstable, triggering rock falls from high elevations.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"11\"\/>\u201cFrom mid-July onward, we saw an increase in rock falls. We saw areas becoming difficult to access because of glacial retreat and snowmelt on the glaciers, with crevasses opening up and rock collapses making some areas difficult to reach or traverse\u201d, said St\u00e9phane Bozon, deputy mayor in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, which shares a border with Italy.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"14\"\/>Bozon, who oversees safety in Chamonix, told AP that the town needs to prepare urgently for \u201cserious scenarios\u201d in which parts of glaciers or mountains could potentially fall towards inhabited areas.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"16\"\/>\u201cWhile it used to snow at high altitudes in the past, now it rains\u201d, said Vanda Bonardo, head of the Italian branch of the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps, a non-governmental organisation.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"18\"\/>\u201cSo we\u2019ve also seen the effects on the stability of the terrain\u201d, she said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"21\"\/>Rock falls in the Mont Blanc area have reportedly surged as the permafrost that helps bind the steep Alpine rock faces together has been affected by repeated heat waves.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"23\"\/>\u201cThat doesn&#8217;t mean that all the rock faces will collapse in the coming years or decades, but quite a number of them are on the verge of becoming unstable and remain stable today only because of the presence of that ice. As the ice changes, we have seen a huge, huge number of rock falls and rock collapses this year\u201d, said Ludovic Ravanel, a researcher at Savoie Mont Blanc University.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"27\"\/>A collapse is defined as a fall involving more than 100 cubic metres of rock. Ravanel expects the number of such collapses in the Mont Blanc massif this year to \u201cprobably reach around 400\u201d. He said this would be about 10 times the level recorded two decades ago.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"29\"\/>The previous year when conditions came close to this level was 2022, which Ravanel described as the \u201ccatastrophic year\u201d, when nearly 300 collapses were recorded.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"31\"\/>\u201cThis has really been one of the defining features of the summer of 2026\u201d, he said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"33\"\/><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"34\"\/><span class=\"em\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">Contains inputs from the Associated Press.<\/span><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/world\/europe\/not-just-nepal-how-climate-change-puts-european-alps-under-threat-of-glacial-retreat-and-rock-fall\/articleshow\/133949443.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tourists look at the Mont-Blanc massif mountains and the &#8216;Mer de Glace&#8217; glacier at the Montenvers station in Chamonix, France (Photo: AP). Climate change is increasingly becoming a threat to the snow-clad European Alps, amid initial investigations associating the August 26 Nepal tragedy with rising temperatures.Average temperatures in July, on the Aiguille du Midi peak, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/france-mont-blanc-climate-change.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/france-mont-blanc-climate-change.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/france-mont-blanc-climate-change.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/france-mont-blanc-climate-change.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/france-mont-blanc-climate-change.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/france-mont-blanc-climate-change.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/france-mont-blanc-climate-change.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/france-mont-blanc-climate-change.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/france-mont-blanc-climate-change.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/france-mont-blanc-climate-change.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/france-mont-blanc-climate-change.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/france-mont-blanc-climate-change.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/france-mont-blanc-climate-change.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/france-mont-blanc-climate-change.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Tourists look at the Mont-Blanc massif mountains and the &#8216;Mer de Glace&#8217; glacier at the Montenvers station in Chamonix, France (Photo: AP). Climate change is increasingly becoming a threat to the snow-clad European Alps, amid initial investigations associating the August 26 Nepal tragedy with rising temperatures.Average temperatures in July, on the Aiguille du Midi peak, [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":3,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/france-mont-blanc-climate-change.jpg",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/france-mont-blanc-climate-change.jpg",300,169,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/france-mont-blanc-climate-change.jpg",150,84,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}