Europe’s highest peak has shrunk by 2 metres

The continent’s arid wave of the past couple of years has not spared Mont Blanc

About three weeks ago, an expedition climbed to the top of Europe’s highest peak – Mt. Blanc – with the aim of performing measurements. The results, which were announced yesterday by surveyors from the Haute-Savoie deparment (France), showed that the mountain top’s altitude has decreased by entire two metres in only two years.

The exact ice thickness lost was 2.22 metres, which means that now Mont Blanc only measures 4,805.59 metres. Given the fact that the peak is composed of snow and ice, its understandable that its height can change according to weather conditions.

According to experts, the lower rainfall/snowfall in the past two years in Western Europe, which had caused noteworthy droughts and wildfires, have also affected the situation of alpine glaciers as well.

Measurements for data purposes

That being said, the surveyors have also cautioned to not read too much into the findings, since weather fluctuations can also mean that in a few years the peak could grow again.

We're gathering the data for future generations, we're not here to interpret them, we leave that up to the scientists," stated Jean des Garets, chief surveyor, as quoted by Euronews.

The measurement of Mont Blanc has become a traditional act, performed for scientific purposes every two years since 2001.

We've learned a lot from these measurement campaigns: we know that the summit is constantly changing in altitude and position, with changes of up to five metres," des Garets added.

The highest measurement was taken ten years ago when Mont Blanc reached 4810 metres or 5 metres higher than it currently is. Nevertheless, the scientists say that it takes at least 50 years of measurements in order to be able to glean a proper perspective of where things might be headed.