The high temperatures recorded in Italy in the past few weeks have left a mark on the country's glaciers with a summer ski resort in Stelvio Pass that has been forced to take the historic decision and suspend activities due to the severe state of the alpine glacier.
Much of southern and eastern Europe is melting at temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius due to a hot waves called "Lucifer" and causing forest fires to spread, crop damage and forced the authorities to Issue warnings and advice to residents.
High extremist temperatures have also been recorded in the Stelvio Pass in the Alps, at a height of 3,000 meters above sea level.
Combined with little snowfall over the past three years, conditions on the glacier are difficult and the ski resort director Umberto Capitani says skiers have enjoyed their last day in the snow before resorting to the resort.
"At six o'clock in the morning at 2770 meters in Stelvio Pass, the temperature was 12 degrees Celsius. For this period of the year this is almost an extreme temperature. We have had very little snowfall in the alps for three years already and with the extreme heat in the past two weeks we have trouble in the high parts of the glacier, where skating is practiced in the summer. Now, we have to suspend all activities until a certain date, "says Umberto Capitani.
Aerial photographs of a dron showed the glacier melting with the generally white ice that was seen only in the highest parts of the mountain. The melting of the glaciers brings different risks, first loss of water reserves, but also increases the risk of crashing the rocks threatening people's lives.
