Melting Alps Glacier Means Switzerland and Italy’s Border Has to Move

(Bloomberg) — Switzerland and Italy tweaked their mountain border under the Matterhorn peak as climate change in the Alps is melting the glaciers that have historically marked the frontier between the two countries.

“Significant sections of the border are defined by the watershed or the ridge lines of glaciers, firn or perpetual snow,” the Swiss government said Friday in a statement. “These formations are changing due to the melting of glaciers.”

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, and the impact is being seen most dramatically in areas such as the Alps, where glaciers have lost 10% of their remaining volume over the past two years, according to the European Union’s Copernicus weather service. Glaciers will lose half their ice by 2050 even if the planet warms less than 2C from pre-industrial levels, according to a study published in the journal of the European Geosciences Union.

As glaciers shrink, familiar mountain routes change and in the worst-case scenario, the ice can suddenly collapse. In July 2022, the day after double-digit temperatures were recorded at the summit of the Marmolada in the Italian Dolomites, a block of ice sheared off the mountain’s glacier and killed 11 climbers.

The area affected by the border changes is that of the famed Zermatt ski resort, where hikers and skiers can cross freely between Switzerland and Italy’s Valtournenche valley. The two countries agreed to adapt the frontier around the landmarks of Testa Grigia, Plateau Rosa, Rifugio Carrel and Gobba di Rollin on the basis of their economic interests. 

Switzerland approved the border adjustment treaty on Friday, while Italy still has to officially sign off on the changes.

The Zermatt resort around the Matterhorn peak attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every season, with visitors spending a total of 2.7 million nights there last year. More than half the guests came from outside Switzerland.

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