Because of the melting glaciers, the Swiss-Italian border has to be redrawn.
On the border of Switzerland and Italy, in the Zermatt region, there is a beautiful and popular tourist resort for winter sports enthusiasts. Below the Matterhorn mountain located here, there is an emblematic glacier, Theodul. A research carried out a decade ago showed that during the preceding forty years, the formation had lost about a quarter of its mass due to large-scale melting.
Because of this, the rock beneath it was permanently transformed, changing the drainage boundary. Since the border is traditionally drawn along this line, two neighbors are now forced to redraw it. Actually, only a 100-meter-long section was affected by the change, but it is still unusual, which the two countries are forced to do now due to the meltdowns.
Switzerland already ratified the new border on Friday, and although Italy must do the same, they will be affected to a lesser extent by the change. The measure becomes official when both parties have signed the agreement. With this, the two countries put an end to a “border dispute” that has been going on for years, which is also important because there is also a mountain refuge in the area.
The fifth largest ski slope in Europe is also located in the affected area. By the way, tourists can move freely on this section regardless of the correction. The agreement between the states includes the exact location of the new border, which will now stretch between the areas called Testa Grigia, Plateau Rosa, Rifugio Carrel and Gobba di Rollin.
Swisstopo, Switzerland’s national cartographic office, is responsible for the country’s borders, which span 1,935 kilometers across five countries. Changes are said to be more frequent here than we think. This is usually done with the help of specialists, and the change is never given a political edge. Surveyors are usually involved in the process and are done by comparing readings.
Today, Europe has become the fastest warming continent on the planet, the primary indicators of which are the glaciers, which are melting at an alarming rate due to the high temperature. According to a report, between 2021 and 2023, Switzerland lost about ten percent of its glaciers in the southern and eastern provinces of the country. This is about as much as was lost between 1960 and 1990 in total.
According to some scientifically based research, the last year was the warmest in 20,000 years, which experts attribute mainly to greenhouse gases. In the last two months, it got so bad that someone had to go to an altitude of almost 5,300 meters in order to measure the freezing point. According to weather specialists, the phenomenon will continue in the future.
Source: www.zoldpalya.hu
