On 12 and 13 July 2024, Italian glaciologists met in Valfurva (Lombardy) to take the annual inventory of the state of the national cryosphere (snow, glaciers and permafrost) and to plan future studies and research.
More specifically, Valfurva was the venue for the summer meeting of the Italian Glaciological Committee (CGI), the body responsible for monitoring Italy’s main glaciers for the past 130 years, collecting data, photographs and information to share with the international scientific community.
On the morning of Friday 12 July, the glaciologists of CGI met in the PNS Visitor Centre, managed by the PNS and the Municipality of Valfurva, to hold their summer meeting and to organize the next research and information activities to be carried out on several Italian glaciers, including the Forni Glacier, the giant glacier of Valfurva, which has been a special observation point for researchers for over a century.
In the afternoon of the same day, the researchers met in the same rooms, this time for a meeting open to the general public (students, tourists, citizens) to illustrate the results of the research carried out on the Forni Glacier, not only in the field of glaciology, but also in zoology, ecology and geology. The scientific afternoon was opened with greetings from the President of the Italian Glaciological Committee, Prof. Valter Maggi, and from the local authorities, namely the Mayor of Valfurva, Luca Belotti, and the President of the PNS, Franco Claretti, who reiterated the importance of holding scientific meetings and popular events open to the public in the area, in order to make citizens aware of the natural and environmental heritage of Upper Valtellina.
The first presentation of the science afternoon was given by young PNS researchers Chiara Giari and Elena Morocutti, who study the Park’s wildlife, including marmots. They presented the results of their research and showed photos and videos of their close encounters with these cute mammals.
The second talk was given by Claudio Smiraglia, a retired professor from the University of Milan, who has spent much of his career studying the glaciers of the Stelvio National Park, particularly the Forni Glacier. Smiraglia explained to the audience the challenges facing alpine glaciologists today and in the near future. On the one hand, the use of increasingly powerful technologies to collect data and information on glaciers and, on the other hand, the effort to avoid being reduced to mere technicians and technologists and to achieve a truly holistic understanding of glaciers, their evolution and their changes.
After Prof. Smiraglia, a young researcher from the University of Milan, Roberto Sergio Azzoni, took the floor. On his own behalf and on behalf of Manuela Pelfini, a lecturer at the University of Milan, he showed the millennial evolution of the Forni Glacier, as evidenced by the traces it has left in the landscape. Thanks to the study of glacial deposits and erosion forms, the researchers are able to reconstruct the recent and distant history of the glacier and its climate.
The next speaker was Antonella Senese, a researcher at the University of Milan, who analyzes data from the supraglacial weather stations installed by the university on the Forni Glacier. The weather stations, which literally float on the glacier, measure the giant’s fever, i.e. they continuously measure air temperature, solar radiation and all the other weather parameters that allow researchers to model the melting of the glacier from 2005 to the present day. Over the past 19 years, the glacier has lost an average of 5 m per year, releasing an enormous amount of meltwater that feeds the area’s hydrographic network. it is only thanks to these instruments, positioned directly on the glacier’s surface, that we can know the seasonal and annual evolution of the glacier with precision. This is the longest weather series in Italy, and researchers hope it will continue to provide valuable information for many years to come.
Roberto Ambrosini, an ecologist from the University of Milan, and Francesca Pittino from the University of Bicocca, took the public on a journey of discovery into glacial ecology. Glaciers are indeed rich in life forms. From bacteria to insects, many organisms live in ice, meltwater and glacier debris, and it is fascinating to discover how many there are and what role they play in high-altitude ecosystems. In particular, Ambrosini tells of some bacteria he has found in glacier meltwater and debris that are able to accelerate the decomposition of certain pollutants – superbacteria that help keep the glacier clean! Ambrosini also explains to the audience how microplastics reach the surface of our glaciers and how important it is to make careful and conscious consumption choices in order to reduce the emission of these substances.
After ecology, glaciology comes back to the fore and Davide Fugazza, a remote sensing expert from the University of Milan, takes the audience into the world of remote sensing. Satellites and drones (UAVs) provide rapid data and information on glaciers and, for example, on their recent darkening caused by soot, dust and black carbon from industrial activities on the plains and forest fires.
Then it was the turn of Riccardo Scotti and Giuseppe Cola, volunteers from the Servizio Glaciologico Lombardo (SGL), who illustrated the more than 20 years of data collected by the SGL on the Forni Glacier, with particular attention to the webcams installed to monitor the glacier’s retreat. The data collected are available not only to the SGL and researchers, but also to all citizens who visit the site, where still images can be viewed to reconstruct videos and sequences of the glacier’s retreat.
The afternoon scientific session was concluded by Guglielmina Diolaiuti, who also acted as moderator, sharing the experience of the University of Milan in disseminating glacier research through playful approaches and IT tools. In particular, Diolaiuti showed the immersive videos produced by the University of Milan on the Forni Glacier, which allow everyone to visit, if only virtually, one of the most beautiful and representative Italian glaciers. In this way, disabled people, prisoners and others unable to reach high altitudes can see the glacier and the researchers at work in a virtual experience of great emotional impact.
On the evening of 12 July, from 9 p.m., another 120 people were present in the visitors’ room for the popular “Glaciers: the passion of a lifetime” meeting, during which Claudio Smiraglia and Guglielmina Diolaiuti (teacher and student respectively) spoke to the general public about their research and their passion for scientific research at high altitudes.
On Saturday the 13th, the CGI’s glaciologists moved on to the Forni Glacier to visit the huge Valfurva Glacier, which had been so much talked about the day before. Dr. Massimo Favaron, who is in charge of education and public relations for the Stelvio National Park, took part in all the work and the excursion.
