The climate-driven disaster of the Marmolada Glacier (Italy)

Bondesan, Aldino; Francese, Roberto

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2023.108687

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Despite their limited size, the glaciers and glacial bodies in the Dolomites have the potential to cause geohazards. This is first-handedly confirmed by the recent Marmolada ice and rock avalanche (3 July 2022, Bondesan and Francese, 2023), but also by the debris flow events observed on Monte Pelmo, closely related to the Val D'Arcia glacial body (Del Longo et al, 2001;Chiarle et al, 2007) and by the instability of some little ice age moraines (Zanoner et al, 2017).…”

Section: Previous Glaciological Research In the Dolomitesmentioning

confidence: 64%

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The Glaciers of the Dolomites: last 40 years of melting

Securo,

Del Gobbo,

Baccolo

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Abstract. Small Alpine glaciers located below the regional equilibrium line altitude are experiencing considerable ice losses and are expected to fragment into smaller glacial bodies and eventually disappear. Monitoring such glaciers through remote sensing is often challenging because of the incompatibility between their size and the spatial resolution of satellites. The Italian Dolomites (S-E Alps) are a region clearly illustrating such challenges and where no long-term glacier mass balance data are available. This renowned Alpine sector hosted tens of glaciers up until a few decades ago, with now only twelve remaining. This study presents a multi-decadal (1980s–2023) estimation of surface elevation change and geodetic mass balance of the current mountain glaciers present in the area. Calculations are based on geodetic data: high resolution and accuracy is obtained with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Structure from Motion (SfM) and airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), from 2010 to 2023. SfM on historical aerial imagery is used for previous decades. We found an average cumulative surface elevation change of -28.7 m from 1980s to 2023, 33 % of which between 2010–2023. The average mass balance rate for the whole period is -0.64 ± 0.05 m w.e. yr-1, varies significantly between sites, and is negative with a smaller amplitude than the Alpine reference glaciers mass balance. Regionally, 66 % of the entire volume loss is related to the Marmolada Glacier alone. Mass losses are accompanied by areal reductions evidencing that the Dolomites are rapidly losing their glaciers. This study aims to address the existing lack of multi-decadal data for the Dolomites by providing a quantitative account of the current state of these small glacial bodies.

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Section: Previous Glaciological Research In the Dolomitesmentioning

confidence: 64%

“…8b). The episode and its potential triggers are described in Bondesan et al (2023) (2020) highlighted evidence of cold ice areas in several sectors of Marmolada. The former Marmolada glacier is now currently segmented into 6 different portions, each with varying degrees of thickness losses (Fig.…”

Section: Local Glaciological Variability Within the Dolomitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Glaciers of the Dolomites: last 40 years of melting

Securo,

Del Gobbo,

Baccolo

et al. 2024

Preprint

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The evolution of “riskscapes”: 100 years of climate change and mountaineering activity in the Lake Louise area of the Canadian Rockies

Hanly,

McDowell

2024

Climatic Change

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Climate change is contributing to the rapid warming of mountain environments, resulting in glacial retreat, diminished snowpacks, and permafrost thaw. These changes modify conditions and increase objective hazard on mountaineering routes, threatening the safety and wellbeing of mountaineers. In response, this study used a mixed-methods approach that combines statistical climatological analysis with archival-content analysis to examine the relationship between climate change, route conditions, hazards, and adaptations reported by climbers in the Abbot Pass area of Banff National Park (Canada).Results revealed an increase in temperature and decrease in total precipitation, corresponding with considerable changes in climbing conditions and increases in objective hazards on approach and popular climbing routes in the area. These changes can be classi ed based on the original character of the route and their climate-driven trajectory, creating a novel typology that informs how mountaineers adapt (i.e., spatial vs. temporal substitution). This typology has substantial implications for mountaineers as it could enhance their decision-making processes by allowing them to proactively develop plans that reduce exposure to objective hazards and capitalize on climate-related opportunities.However, our ndings also highlight the potential inevitability of mountaineers encountering hard biophysical limits to adaptation, resulting in forced transformations and signi cant loss and damages. While focused on a Canadian context, the ndings and methodologies developed herein are relevant to other mountain geographies, where climate change is rapidly transforming environments frequented by mountaineers and represents a call to action for more research in eld of climate change, adaptation, and mountaineering.destabilization of countless pieces of alpine infrastructure (Duvillard et al., 2019(Duvillard et al., , 2021, including Canada's historic Abbot Pass Hut (Parks Canada Agency, 2022).Despite extensive literature documenting these widespread physical changes, research examining adaptation amongst mountaineers remains limited. Adaptation is "the adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits bene cial opportunities" (IPCC, 2013) and can range from shallow, short-term coping to deep, longer-term transformations (Moser & Ekstrom, 2010). In the context of mountaineering, the literature has identi ed substitution as the predominant adaptation strategy, classi ed as temporal, spatial, and activity

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Holocene Glaciation in Europe

Hughes,

Braithwaite

2025

Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science

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The climate-driven disaster of the Marmolada Glacier (Italy)

Cited by 9 publications

References 31 publications

The Glaciers of the Dolomites: last 40 years of melting

The Glaciers of the Dolomites: last 40 years of melting

The evolution of “riskscapes”: 100 years of climate change and mountaineering activity in the Lake Louise area of the Canadian Rockies

Holocene Glaciation in Europe

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