GRAN PARADISO - The Marmolada tragedy has shown once again how the current climate situation must cause unprecedented concern about the health of our glaciers.
For this reason, the iconographic and scientific journey among the glaciers of the main 4000 peaks in the Aosta Valley told by L'Adieu des glaciers, photographic and scientific research acquires a meaning that is more current and precious than ever.
After having explored the Monte Rosa group and the Matterhorn from 9 July to 13 November, the third stage of the project, "Il Gran Paradiso: photographic and scientific research", will take place at the Forte di Bard, with a focus entirely dedicated to the year in which 100 years since the establishment of the National Park are celebrated: the glacial and periglacial area between the valleys of Cogne, Valsavarenche,
The almost thirty-year historical series of observations highlights the unstoppable retreat of all the glacial fronts measured, with an average of -12.8 m / year since 1993 (-13.1 m in 2021).
The Grand Etrèt Glacier represents the "special surveillance" of the Park.
The 20 years of negative mass balances out of 22 cause concern for the health of the glacier, which since 1999 has lost an average thickness of 22 m of ice by melting, seeing its surface halved.
The curators of the project are Enrico Peyrot, photographer and photography historian and Michele Freppaz, professor of the Department of Agricultural, Forestry and Food Sciences of the University of Turin, who dealt with the scientific part.
More than 80 authors who responded to the invitation launched by the Italian Glaciological Committee (CGI) and the Control Room of the Valdostani Glaciers contributed to collect data relating to research carried out mainly in the Gran Paradiso groups but also in the Grande Sassière-Rutor.
Data that provide a detailed analysis of the environmental characteristics of these territories, made up of glaciers, prairies, lakes and an extraordinary biodiversity.
In the Gran Paradiso massif there are more than 60 glaciers covering an area of about 29 km2, three quarters of which on the Valle d'Aosta side.
