According to recent research, Mont Blanc, the highest peak in France and a well-known representation of the Alps, has lost height during the past two years. This phenomena is attributed to the localized effects of climate change. The height of Mont Blanc’s summit, according to the most recent measurements, is 4,805.59 meters, which is 2.22 meters lower than the figure from 2021.
According to new research, Mont Blanc, the highest peak in France and a representation of the Alps, has lost height over the past two years, the BBC reported. The effects of climate change on the area have been blamed for this loss.
The height of Mont Blanc’s top has recently been measured to be 4,805.59 meters, which is 2.22 meters less than the measurement taken in 2021.
Climate experts take these data on a regular basis to track how climate change is affecting the Alps.
The Chief Geometer engaged in the study, Jean des Garets, told the BBC that the shorter height might have resulted from less rainfall during the summer before.
Des Garets emphasized that the height and location of Mont Blanc’s top are constantly shifting by up to five meters. He predicts that the mountain’s height might change dramatically in two more years.
While some specialists concur with the most recent discoveries and assert that Mont Blanc has been losing about 13 centimeters of height each year, others emphasize the intricacy of the problem. A team from the Haute-Savoie regional administration recently conducted a precise survey using a drone.
In contrast, the summit’s elevation in 2021 was measured at 4,807.81 meters, over a meter lower than the reading from 2017. One of the surveyors engaged, Denis Borel, emphasizes the substantial loss of ice and snow, which amounts to almost 3,500 cubic meters, or the volume of an Olympic swimming pool. In comparison to earlier measurements, this loss is thought to be significant.
Impact of climate change
Although there has been a small decline in the snowy summit of Mont Blanc since 2001, climatologists claim that it would take about 50 years of measurements to draw firm conclusions about the effects of global warming at such high altitudes as 4,800 meters.
They emphasize that variables like wind patterns and precipitation have an impact on the fluctuations in ice cover on Europe’s highest peak.