Italy endured a prolonged heat wave before an Alpine glacier broke off and killed seven hikers and left others unaccounted for
FILE - A rescue helicopter hovers over the Punta Rocca glacier near Canazei, in the Italian Alps in northern Italy, July 4, 2022, a day after a huge chunk of the glacier broke loose, sending an avalanche of ice, snow, and rocks onto hikers. Italy was enduring a prolonged heat wave before a massive piece of the Alpine glacier broke off and killed hikers on Sunday and experts say climate change will make those hot, destabilizing conditions more common.
The Marmolada glacier is in the Dolomite mountains, a range of steep, dramatic peaks in northeast Italy. The region is already being altered by climate change. Between the late 19th and early 21st century, temperatures in the Alps have increased twice as quickly as the global average, according to Copernicus, the European climate modeling group. The U.N. has identified the Mediterranean basin that includes Italy as a climate change hot spot prone to heat waves.
Before the avalanche, daytime temperatures at the glacier’s altitude were around 50F when they normally don't rise much above freezing. The prolonged period of hot weather at high altitudes created a special set of circumstances, said Tobias Bolch who researches glaciers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
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