A task force for the glaciers of Europe

FC editorial staff

On the occasion of the International Water Day on March 22, this year dedicated to “The conservation of glaciers”, 60 between entities, NGOs and environmental organizations launch a SOS for the glacchiai. Due to the climatic crisis and high temperatures, the large white giants retreat from year to year. According to studies in the last 23 years, from 2000 to 2023, global glaciers, excluding continental caps of Antarctica and Greenland, lost 5.4% of their massequal to about 6,558 billion tons. Central Europe, with Alps and Pyrenees, turns out to be the most affected mountain area: Here the mountains are heating at a speed about double compared to the rest of the world and phenomena such as landslides and debrical flows are increasing. A worrying global picture, with important repercussions downstream, on local communities and on ecosystems, on which it is necessary to intervene immediately.
Some data on Alpine glaciers helps to understand the drama of the situation: to date there is the loss of at least one third of the mass and, with the increase in the temperatures expected by 2050, all the glacial bodies below 3500 meters of altitude will have disappeared. Among those already extinct: there is the Flua glacier in Valsesia, Piedmont (source CGI), while those of the Canin (in Friuli-Venezia Giulia) (source Smaa-Cgi) and Triglav (in Slovenia) on the Eastern Alps, have reduced to residues scattered with snow and ice. The next intended to disappear are those of Marmolada (source Sat-Cgi) and Adamello (source Sgl-Cgi).
On the eve of the International Glaciai Day, CAI (Italian Alpine Club), CGI (Italian Glaciological Committee), Cipra Italia (International Commission for the Protection of the Alps), Euma (the European Union of Alpinism Associations, European Union Mountaineering Association) and Legambiente therefore present, together with a network of 60 signatories between NGOs, Research Bodies, Protected Areas and other organizations of different countries, the European Manifesto for European Manifesto A governance of glaciers and for the connected resources they have promoted. Objective, implement common actions to guarantee a sustainable future for glaciers and for the communities that depend on themall through a participatory and shared action between the cross -border areas that share the same geomorphological conditions and functional ecological units.
Two pillars in the center of the European Manifesto for a governance of glaciers – namely reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by limiting global warming to 1.5 ° C compared to pre -industrial levels and more actions for adaptation to the impact of climate change on glaciers – which are articulated on eight common actions, 4 at European level and 4 at a general level, which are spokes of the promoters and signing subjects. All united in reiterating the importance of starting a European governance to protect and defend the cryospherewhich includes glaciers, glacial caps, snow, sea ice and permafrost, together with the periglacial and progressive areas and which represent one of the most sensitive components of the earth’s environment.
It is estimated, for example, that by reducing emissions, the glaciers of 2/3 of the world heritage sites could be saved. With very low emissions and the achievement of carbon neutrality by 2050, in some areas, such as the Himalayas, up to 40% of the regional ice could be preserved, and some glacial areas could even start a slow regrowth between 2100 and 2300 double the ice compared to the most critical scenarios. “In the world – declare the promoters – over two billion people depend on the snow and ice of the mountains that feed rivers, lakes and aquifersessential resources for ecosystems, agriculture, energy, industry and domestic uses. The international year for the conservation of glaciers represents a unique opportunity to combine global efforts in the fight against the climatic crisis. Only through effective collaboration and shared commitment will it be possible to guarantee a sustainable future for the glaciers and for the communities that depend on them. It is essential to pursue urgent and ambitious objectives of reducing emissions, supporting them with coordinated adaptation actionssupported and increasingly ambitious, to encourage climatic resilience and sustainable development. The challenge is enormous, but the time to act is now ».
At European level, the promoters and signatories of the manifesto are spokesperson for four actions: 1) Create a European Cryosferic risk monitoring system, favoring the sharing of experiences gained at the local and regional level and developing a common set of rules for monitoring; 2) Establish a multidisciplinary network of skills to be shared, with the aim of setting up a European governance of glaciers (Egg); 3) enhance the international tools and policies for mitigation and adaptation to the climatic crisis in European glacial areas, 4) support the leadership and role of Europe at a global level by directing the choices of the European Union towards the protection of glacial environments, from polar caps to glaciers, and promoting the reduction of impacts on the cryosphere, on the use of soil and water resources. “The glaciers are not only the largest water reserve present in the Alps and, consequently, in Europe, but have become a symbol: they show to all citizens, not only to mountain lovers, the dramatic change that our planet is experiencing», Says the general president of the CAI and vice -president of Euma Antonio Montanthe. «Making a manifesto on glaciers mainly means attracting attention to their constant reduction, with the awareness that today the landscape change of the mountain is an aesthetic factor, but from tomorrow it will become a practical problem. We could get to situations where water will miss in our cities, so it is the duty of each of us to take an interest in these problems and do everything that is in their own possibilities to limit this trend».