2023-10-06 09:15:31
Updated Friday, October 6, 2023 – 09:15
The mountain’s rocky peak measures 4,792 meters above sea level, but its thick layer of ice and snow varies in height from year to year.
Aerial view of Mont Blanc.PHILIPPE DESMAZESAFPFrance The ‘shrinking’ giant of the Alps: how Mont Blanc loses 21 centimeters every year
La montaa ms alta de Francehe Mont Blanc, lost just over two meters in the last two years, several experts said this Thursday. The alpine peak will measure 4,805.59 meters in September 2023, that is, 2.22 meters less than in 2021.
This could be due to the decrease in rainfall in summer, according to Jean des Garetspresident of the departmental chamber of geometers of High Savoy, in the southeast of France. “Mont Blanc could be much higher in two years,” he added.
The mountain’s rocky peak measures 4,792 meters above sea level, but its thick layer of ice and snow varies in height from year to year depending on wind and weather.
Researchers have been measuring it every two years since 2001, hoping to gather information about the impact of climate change on the Alps.
But “we are collecting the data for future generations, we are not here to interpret it, we leave that to the scientists,” des Garets said. People should not use height measurement “to say anything,” he urged.
About 20 people climbed the mountain in mid-September to take measurements over several days, divided into eight groups equipped with high-tech tools and, for the first time, a drone.
“We have learned a lot from these measurement campaigns: we know that the summit constantly changes altitude and positionwith changes of up to five meters,” said des Garets.
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