Snowpack Shrinking Due to Summer, Mont Blanc Peak Is at Lowest Level in 22 Years

Mont Blanc peak. (Wikimedia Commons/Stefano Caldera)

JAKARTA - Europe's highest peak, Mont Blanc, has shrunk by more than two meters in the past two years, shrinking to its lowest level since accurate measurements began 22 years ago, as summer reduced snowpack, researchers said on Thursday.

A team of topographers who take measurements every two years told a news conference in Chamonix, in the French Alps, that the mountain is now 4,805.59 meters (15,766 feet) high, 2.22 meters lower than their last measurement of 4,807.81 meters. (15,773 feet) in September 2021.

"The peak of Mont Blanc is like a sand dune, moving, and this is not the first time we have measured a height difference of more than two meters," explained Cecile Taffin from the UNGE surveyors' union, as reported by Reuters, October 6.

He added that this year's low rainfall levels may be due to a lack of rainfall and a hot summer.

When accurate GNSS satellite measurements began in September 2001, Mont Blanc had a height of approximately 4,010.40 meters.

Between 2001 and 2013 its height ranged between 4,808 and 4,810 meters with a record of 4,810.90 meters in 2007, however from 4,810.02 meters in 2013, it is on a downward trend.

The rocky peak of Mont Blanc peaks at 4,792 meters, but the total height depends on its snowpack, which usually increases during the summer, as rain on the peak turns to snow.

Meanwhile, Farouk Kadded from Leica Geosystems said, this year, for the first time since 2015, when scientists also started measurements in June, Mont Blanc's snowpack in September was almost unchanged compared to June.

Usually, the peak of Mont Blanc increases by one meter from June to September. However, this did not happen this summer because on several days the temperature increased, even reaching a record 10 degrees Celsius, he added.

Topographers say they have no right to interpret their data, that climate change experts will put forward theories to explain the phenomenon.

Before GNSS with its centimeter precision, scientists used GPS, trigonometric estimates and barometric measurements, which could be off by several meters.

"It's hard to believe we will recover a few meters in the next two years. There is a lot of variation, but there is a slight downward trend," Kadded said.