Mont Blanc is shrinking: France’s tallest peak now shorter by 7 feet

Researchers say that Mont Blanc shrunk by over 7 feet in two years

The tallest mountain in France has shrunk by more than 7 feet in the last two years. On Thursday, researchers said that Mont Blanc stands 4,805.59 metres tall, which is 2.2 metres shorter than its height in 2021.

The shrinking of Mont Blanc could be caused by less rainfall, said Jean des Garets, chief geometer in the Haute-Savoie department of southeastern France.

"Mont Blanc could well be much taller in two years" when it is next measured, he added, saying this was not the first time such a large change had been seen.

The Alpine peak measures 4,792 metres above sea level. However, its thick covering of ice and snow gives rise to variations in its height from year to year. "Mont Blanc's height has been fluctuating since time immemorial," say experts. Within the year, strong winter winds usually scour away more snow than in summer, meaning the peak is higher as autumn begins than in early spring.

Jean des Garets and his team have been measuring the height of Mont Blanc since 2001, hoping to gather more information about the impact of climate change on the Alps.

"We're gathering the data for future generations. We're not here to interpret them," des Garets said. People shouldn't use the height measurement "to say any old thing", he urged.

Instead, "it's now up to the climatologists, glaciologists and other scientists to make use of all the data we've collected and come up with theories to explain" the shrinkage.

According to The Guardian, Denis Borel, one of the surveyors involved in the research, told French media that Mont Blanc lost "3,500 cubic metres of ice and snow compared to the volume measured in 2021, representing roughly the volume of an Olympic swimming pool." Borel called 2023 an exceptional year, saying the loss of ice and snow was “quite considerable” compared to previous eras.

(With inputs from AFP)