"Forecasts based on the climate scenarios at our disposal suggest that up to 80% of the surface of Italy's Alpine glaciers will disappear by 2060, which will have a huge impact on the volume of discharged melted water. Without these glaciers, we will face increasingly strong droughts in 30-40 years," CGI glaciologist Guglielmina Diolaiuti told reporters.
The statement was made after the CGI and the local branch of Greenpeace (considered an undesirable organization in Russia) completed the first stage of their ascent to Italy's largest valley glacier, Forno. The stage took place from August 21-24, when a new wave of abnormal heat hit the country due to the African cyclone Nero.
The expedition members noted that changes on the Forno Glacier were evident to the naked eye, Greenpeace said. Since the middle of the 19th century, it has lost about 10 square kilometers (3.9 square miles), which is half of its surface.
"The Forno Glacier is losing 50% more thickness due to melting than in 2022. Our expedition measurements registered a loss of 37 centimeters [14.6 inches] of ice thickness at the very bottom of the glacial tongue in just four days. This is significantly more than the average, which had been 6 centimeters per day here," Diolaiuti said.
She added that humans were responsible for climate change, adding that clear evidence of these processes was the melting of glaciers due to a significant increase in air temperature.