Marmoala may disappear in 25-30 yrs -CNR

(ANSA) - Rome, December 11 - One of the Dolomites' most famous and iconic glaciers will totally disappear in 25-30 years unless climate change is halted, the National Research Council (CNR) said Wednesday.
    In the decade between 2004 and 2015, the CNR said, the Marmolada Glacier shrank by 30% in volume and 22% in area.
    The report, based on two 3-D models, was drawn up by the CNR-Ismar lab and the universities of Trieste, Genoa and Aberystwith in Wales, as well as by the environmental agency (ARPA) of Veneto, where the glacier is located.
    The study was published in the Remote Sensing of the Environment journal.
    "Even if the temperature were to remain what is is, the glaciers' fate appears to be sealed," said the report.
    Some parts of the study were released early, in August.
    Renato Colucci, a CNR glaciologist, sounded the alarm about the impact the climate crisis is having on the Alps' glaciers.
    "Over the last 100 years, the glaciers of the Alps have lost 50% of their mass," Colucci told ANSA.
    "Of this 50%, 70% has disappeared over the last 30 years.
    "The Alpine glaciers are shrinking at a rate that is unprecedented for thousands of years.
    "The glaciers of the Alps under (an altitude) of 3,500 metres are set to disappear in 20 to 30 years.
    "The average temperatures of the last 15 years do not allow those under this level to survive.
    "Core samples taken on glaciers in Greenland and the Antarctic tells us that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased 100 times more quickly over the last century than at any other period in the last 800,000 years.
    "And the responsibility for it can be down to mankind".