22-01-07 Alarm for alpine glaciers melting in Italy

BERGAMO, Italy -- The melting of the alpine glaciers contributes to risks for the future of Italy’s energy supply. Over the past century, the Italian Forni glacier, has lost 40 per cent of its length, receding from its previous length of 6 km to 3.5 Km.   

The situation has been aggravated over the past decade, with glacial retreat averaging dozens of meters a year, as stated by prof. Claudio Smiraglia of the Milan University - "Ardito Desio" Earth Sciences Department, President of the Italian Glaciology Committee and coordinator of the Ev-K²-CNR Committee glaciological research.
The natural phenomenon which effects nearly all Alpine glaciers may have consequences for Italian water and hydroelectric resources. 

Other effects include an increase in geological instability of slopes caused by unstable materials deposited during glacier retreat.
An automatic weather station “AWS1� (photo) was installed on the Forni glacier in 2005 by the Ev-K²-CNR Committee as part of their project SHARE (Stations at High Altitude for Research on the Environment), in collaboration with the University of Milan and the AEM (Milan Energy Company).  Data from AWS1 confirms that the first part of winter 2006-2007 has been abnormally warm and dry, favouring the extension of the period of glacier melting.

“At the altitude of AWS1 (approximately 2,700 m asl)�  Prof. Smiraglia points out, “between November 2006 and January 2007, the average air temperature was -4.23°C, higher than the temperature recorded in the same period of winter 2005-2006, -10.9.�
"The delay of snowfall in 2006-2007, combined with the elevated temperatures, has had obvious effects on the glacier, particularly an extension of the melt period. Between the beginning of October and mid-November, in fact, glacier melt near AWS1 was 1 meter, which must be added to the 4 meters already seen in the period between early June-early October ", concluded Claudio Smiraglia.