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The "Climbing for Climate" event is scheduled for Saturday 17 September on the Presena Glacier: scientists and experts will help understand the phenomena that threaten the survival of glaciers. During the event, the graduation prize funded by the charity auction of bottles of wine aged in an igloo will be presented.
Friday 9 September 2022 8 minutes reading time
Look closely at what seems distant to us: since the effects of climate change are under our eyes, we need to discuss and analyze them. Better still if directly in the places where they reveal themselves in all their drama. As will happen on the Presena Glacier, in the Pontedilegno-Tonale District, on Saturday 17 September. On that day, the meeting "Climbing for Climate 2022: let's talk about climate change ... yes, but at the top!" To propose it is UNIMONT - University of the Mountain, pole of the University of Milan based in Edolo, in collaboration with the Pontedilegno-Tonale Consortium and the local section of the CAI: debates with scientists and experts, but also excursions and observations to 3 thousand meters of altitude (rain permitting) on the absolute need to act promptly and effectively to counter the climate crisis, with specific attention paid to the consequences on glaciers.
The appointment is for 10 at the Passo Paradiso refuge (overlooking the Pontedilegno-Tonale area, easily accessible by cableway). Numerous aspects that will be addressed during the event: the influence of these changes in the approach to the mountains and the related risks; the future of glaciers, increasingly in danger, with a focus on Presena; the availability of water resources in the context of global warming; international climate negotiations and policies; reflections on sporting activity through the direct experience of an athlete: the ski mountaineering and mountain running champion Davide Magnini. The program includes, in the afternoon, an excursion from Passo Paradiso to the Capanna Presena refuge (a walk of 1.7 kilometers with an altitude difference of 165 meters) and the observation of Presena at an altitude of 3,000 meters.
The meeting will also be an opportunity to support research. In fact, at the opening of the seminar, the degree award will be presented with the theme "Effects of climate change on the environment and on the tourist economy in the mountains", which will be selected from among those that will be created by the researchers of the UNIMONT pole: the winner will receive a prize the cost of which will be fully covered with the proceeds from the charity auction held on July 9th during the “Dall'igloo al calice” event. On that occasion, bottles of wine aged inside an igloo at 2000 meters of altitude of the Corno d'Aola were offered: an initiative developed as part of the "Wines in igloo" project, born from the collaboration between Pontedilegno-Tonale Consortium, Valcamonica Wine Consortium, Bignotti Winery and UNIMONT pole.
"It is essential to network with local partners, even better if in a virtuous way, as in this case: supporting a young researcher through the funding of a degree award means trusting the future, concretely recognizing the value of merit, talent and commitment. We are very proud of this beautiful collaboration that we have started with UNIMONT, which we consider an important scientific reference point for our territory ”, says Michele Bertolini, director of the Pontedilegno-Tonale Consortium.
The choice of the meeting place is obviously not accidental: the Presena is a direct witness of climate change. But it is also the protagonist, unlike other Alpine glaciers, of a futuristic action to slow down the effects of climate change. Every year (since 2008) a vast surface of the glacier (120 thousand square meters) is covered with geotextile sheets that allow to reduce summer melt by 50% (by absorbing less solar energy) and to preserve a thickness of 3 meters of snow, approximately 130 thousand cubic meters, which forms the basis for the following winter season, with a positive impact also on the environment. "We are aware that the sheets help to slow down the melting of the glacier but cannot, by themselves, prevent it: to do this we need international climate policies aimed at reducing emissions of climate-altering gases which are the main cause of global warming", explains Davide Panizza, president of the Pontedilegno-Tonale Consortium.
The event on Saturday 17 September is part of "Climbing for Climate", the initiative - now in its fourth edition - organized throughout the country by RUS - Network of Sustainable Universities and Italian Alpine Club (CAI). Reservation is mandatory. In case of bad weather the event will be canceled.
Click here for the full program and registration
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