There has been a record number of rockfalls in the Alps \u2013 some of them fatal \u2013 amid Europe\u2019s exceptionally hot summer.<\/p>\n
The rock destabilisation poses risks to mountaineers and several climbers have died since the start of the summer season.<\/p>\n
In July, two Czech tourists were killed in a rockfall on the most commonly used route up Mont Blanc, a famous mountain located on the Franco-Italian border.<\/p>\n
In August, a 31-year-old man also died in a rockfall in the Mont Blanc massif. <\/p>\n
According to scientist Ludovic Ravanel, \u201ca large majority\u201d of the rockfalls are \u201cattributable to the climate crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n
This year \u201cwill undoubtedly be a record year\u201d both in terms of the frequency of rockfalls and the sheer volume of rock breaking away from the mountains on an almost daily basis, the research director at CNRS, France\u2019s national scientific research centre, told AFP. <\/p>\n
The area around Mont Blanc \u2013 nicknamed the \u201croof of Europe\u201d \u2013 has been particularly hard hit.<\/p>\n
At the end of a summer punctuated by extreme heatwaves, the number of rockfalls recorded in the Mont Blanc massif alone is expected to reach 450, Dr Ravanel said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat is an absolutely staggering figure, given that just 10 or 20 years ago, there were only a few dozen,\u201d the geomorphologist added. <\/p>\n
The previous record stood at 300 and was set in 2022, another year marked by heatwaves.<\/p>\n
\u201cA large majority (of the rockfalls) can be attributed to the climate crisis,\u201d Dr Ravanel said, noting that rising temperatures are degrading and reducing the permafrost. <\/p>\n
For several thousand years, \u201cinvisible\u201d ice has been lodged in cracks in the rock, where it \u201cacts as a kind of cement holding the mountains together\u201d, he said. <\/p>\n
With high temperatures, the ice can melt and rocks break loose, causing rockfalls.<\/p>\n
Rockfalls are also caused as glaciers melt, when the stabilising pressure they exert on rock walls eases as the glaciers \u201close thickness\u201d, he added. <\/p>\n
Temperatures are expected to drop at high altitudes in coming days.<\/p>\n
However, it doesn\u2019t mean the return of stability, as \u201ceven if the surface freezes over again, the enormous amount of heat from the summer of 2026 will continue to penetrate the ground until November, December, or even as late as January\u201d, Dr Ravanel said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re expecting the biggest rockfalls to happen this autumn,\u201d Dr Ravanel predicted, though they are likely to be less frequent.<\/p>\n
Authorities closed two shelters used to climb Mont Blanc, a precaution also taken in 2022.<\/p>\n
But Dr Ravanel doesn\u2019t believe access to the high mountains should be completely restricted, describing them as \u201cabove all, a place of freedom\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe mountaineering community regulates itself\u201d and \u201cdoes not put itself at greater risk during a heatwave than during a cooler summer\u201d, he said. <\/p>\n
In his view, there is therefore \u201cno surge in accidents\u201d caused by rockfalls.<\/p>\n
Rather, the increase in accidents reflects the growing popularity of mountain resorts and villages among holiday-makers, leading to higher visitor numbers overall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There has been a record number of rockfalls in the Alps \u2013 some of them fatal \u2013 amid…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[16],"tags":[57579,57561,57557,38474,57641,57576,1431,57626,57569,57592,57632,57563,57601,57636,57622,57560,57584,57599,57578,57615,14510,12813,1380,50,57585,57570,57591,13063,13678,57491,57618,57608,37585,57619,197,46386,57640,57635,1001,30478,16643,57610,33409,46575,57595,57573,57625,57581,57589,57565,57327,57559,57614,6451,57603,57607,57616,57633,57621,57566,20983,29763,24151,57587,23184,57624,57600,57629,57588,57628,57586,25731,57593,18827,41386,57564,3091,57580,57617,57605,54493,57604,57620,57612,57611,57609,57637,57574,57630,57572,57602,57577,57590,57639,56466,57627,57568,57567,57597,57623,57582,57606,57583,57558,57571,57596,57613,57575,57562,57631,57598,57594,56425,55824,57634,57638],"class_list":["post-118469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alps","tag-s-exceptionally-hot-summer","tag-s-national-scientific-research-centre","tag-invisible-ice","tag-38474","tag-57641","tag-2022-but","tag-1431","tag-57626","tag-a-31-year-old-man","tag-a-cooler-summer","tag-a-famous-mountain","tag-a-heatwave","tag-a-kind","tag-a-large-majority","tag-a-place","tag-a-precaution","tag-a-record-number","tag-a-record-year","tag-a-rockfall","tag-a-summer","tag-access","tag-accidents","tag-afp","tag-alps","tag-an-absolutely-staggering-figure","tag-an-almost-daily-basis","tag-another-year","tag-august","tag-cement","tag-cnrs","tag-coming-days-however","tag-cracks","tag-december","tag-dr-ravanel","tag-europe","tag-european-heatwave","tag-extreme-heatwaves","tag-famous-mountain","tag-france","tag-freedom","tag-glaciers","tag-greater-risk","tag-heat","tag-heatwaves","tag-high-altitudes","tag-high-temperatures","tag-higher-visitor-numbers","tag-his-view","tag-holiday-makers","tag-january","tag-july","tag-just-10-or-20-years","tag-less-frequent-authorities","tag-mont-blanc","tag-mountain-resorts-and-villages","tag-mountaineers","tag-no-surge","tag-november","tag-only-a-few-dozen","tag-record-rockfalls","tag-rising-temperatures","tag-risks","tag-rock","tag-rock-walls","tag-rockfalls","tag-rockfalls-rather","tag-rockfalls-rockfalls","tag-rocks","tag-scientist-ludovic-ravanel","tag-several-climbers","tag-several-thousand-years","tag-stability","tag-staggering","tag-temperatures","tag-terms","tag-the-roof","tag-the-alps","tag-the-area","tag-the-biggest-rockfalls","tag-the-climate-crisis","tag-the-end","tag-the-enormous-amount","tag-the-franco-italian-border-in","tag-the-frequency","tag-the-geomorphologist","tag-the-glaciers","tag-the-ground","tag-the-growing-popularity","tag-the-high-mountains","tag-the-ice","tag-the-increase","tag-the-mont-blanc-massif","tag-the-most-commonly-used-route","tag-the-mountaineering-community","tag-the-mountains","tag-the-number","tag-the-permafrost","tag-the-previous-record","tag-the-research-director","tag-the-return","tag-the-rock","tag-the-rock-destabilisation","tag-the-rockfalls","tag-the-sheer-volume","tag-the-stabilising-pressure","tag-the-start","tag-the-summer","tag-the-summer-season","tag-the-summer-season-in","tag-the-surface","tag-thickness","tag-this-autumn","tag-this-year","tag-tourists","tag-two-czech-tourists","tag-two-shelters"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}