All Alpine glaciers above zero, says CNR

Italy's National Research Council (CNR) said Sunday that all of Italy's Alpine glaciers were current above zero degrees amid an ongoing string of heatwaves and as a result of the climate crisis.

"All the Alpine glaciers, at all altitudes, are above zero and the situation is quite critical", said Claudio Tei, researcher and meteorologist at the CNR and the Lamma Consortium, on the heat wave that is sweeping Central and Northern Italy, due to a sub-tropical anticyclone coming from Africa.

"The hottest days predicted by the models are Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 August, with peaks of 38 degrees in some cities and more than 7 degrees above this season's average, even 10 degrees above seasonal values in the western Alps," Tei explains, "while the zero temperature at altitude is expected to rise up to 5,000 metres.