“Fragile Ice”, at the School of Climate Change on Mont Blanc

A matter neglected by schools, only a few pointers in books, yet we talk about climate change almost every day, especially the effects, sometimes as devastating as the floods of recent days. And one of the most important “books” to study is the Alpine Glacier. It preserves history, reveals the present, serves to imagine the future scientifically. And “Fragile Ice” is a well-tested school for teachers, who will then be able to fill in the knowledge of their students. Theory and practice meet at the glaciers of Mont Blanc. The sixth edition will be inaugurated on August 26 and is named after one of the creators of the recently defunct initiative, Professor Franco Tallarico of the University of Siena, one of Antarctica’s greatest experts. The course which is coordinated by the creator of the School of Climate Change, Piedmontese geologist Gianni Boschis, teacher at ITC Galilei in Avigliana.

They say: “A unique way of directly observing the effects of climate change on the glaciers of Mont Blanc and reflecting on the dynamics of climate, in relation to nature and man, and on the most appropriate teaching methods to communicate to young people Opportunity. Subject which has been neglected till now. The available positions for internships are 24, while they have increased to 95 for online lessons to follow. Boschis again: «A full program of conferences and excursions, with exceptional natural values, when compared to the “location” of the forum, the wild and still glacial southern slopes of Mont Blanc». On the banks of the Val Veni, where the great Mieze glacier descends in an area remembered as an alpine valley similar to the Himalayas.

The course is organized to support teachers and researchers already involved in scientific dissemination, and university professors (Universities of Siena and Savoie-Mont Blanc, the Safe Mountain Foundation and the Saussurea Botanical Garden of Courtmaier). Themes: Ecology, Climatology, Glaciology, Atmospheric Physics, Geomorphology, Computers and Didactic Applications. “The mix and choice of disciplines – explains Boskis – that stimulate interdisciplinary reflections, covering a variety of disciplines such as art, economics, geopolitics, motor science.”

There will be two excursions into the glacial environment. Boschis: “The most spectacular, planned thanks to the collaboration of Courtmire and Skyway Monte Bianco, will allow teachers to walk in ropes with mountain guides on the Gigante Glacier at an altitude of more than 3500 meters above sea level, observing the effects of overheating The second, no less spectacular, would be in the Meijs Moranic Amphitheater, “perhaps the most spectacular of all the Alps”, as the Scottish glaciologist Forbes wrote in the mid-nineteenth century in the spectacular setting of Val Veni, where there are signs of glaciers. and where it is still possible to come across Dryas octopetala, a flower that is a typical marker of glacial environments, is very sensitive to temperature variation and is therefore at risk of extinction.