Year-ender: Top climate-related stories of 2019
Experts: Mont Blanc glacier could collapse
Experts warned that a massive glacier on the Italian side of Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in Europe, is melting at an accelerated rate and is close to collapse.
Authorities attributed this year's intense summer heat as the reason behind the melting glacier close to the northern Italian town of Courmayeur.
"With the anomalous summer heat recorded in August and the first half of September, the glacier is melting at an average of 35 centimeters (13.7 inches) per day, with peaks of 50/60 centimeters on some days," said Moreno Vignolini, Courmayeur's town spokesman.
Mont Blanc, located in the Alps between Italy and France, has become a symbol of climate change as its glaciers continue to rapidly melt in response to the warming of the Earth.
As the ice melts and falls, it creates a dangerous hazard for both locals and the millions of tourists who visit the site annually while also drying up fresh water supplies, said geologists.
