Mont Blanc Shaken by Heatwave as Europe Faces Severe Drought

Previous Record Was 300 Incidents in 2022
Extreme Heat Causes Permafrost to Thaw

This summer, Europe has been gripped by record-breaking heatwaves, leading to an unprecedented scale of rockfalls in the Alps.

According to AFP and Euronews reports on August 20 (local time), approximately 450 incidents of rockfall have occurred at Mont Blanc, the "Roof of Europe," so far this year. The previous record was about 300 incidents in 2022, another year marked by unusually high temperatures. The causes of these rockfalls have been identified as the extreme heat in the French Alps this year and the thawing of permafrost. As temperatures in the area have soared beyond 30−35 degrees Celsius, the ice that holds together rock faces has begun to melt. High-altitude Alpine cliffs contain long-frozen ground and rocks, with the ice acting as a form of cement bonding the rocks together. However, abnormally elevated temperatures have caused this permafrost to thaw, weakening the cohesion of the rock faces, enlarging cracks, and leading to the detachment of massive rock slabs.

Montblanc. Pixabay

Ludovic Ravanel, a geomorphologist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), stated, "In terms of both the frequency and the scale of detached rocks in the Alps, this year is bound to be a record-breaking year." He added, "Considering that a decade or two ago, there were on average just several dozen rockfalls annually, the increase in scale is enormous."

Ravanel emphasized that this phenomenon is clearly the result of climate change. "Comparing photographs documenting 200 years of climate warming, one can see scars indicating areas where the rock wall has become unstable. When quantified, 80–85% of these scars have appeared in the past 20 to 30 years," he explained. He further noted, "Even if the ground refreezes, the extreme heat of 2026 will continue to penetrate the earth through November, December, and even into January of next year. While the frequency may decrease, we expect the largest rockfalls this fall."

There is a hole in the Bosong Glacier located in the Mont Blanc massif of the Alps in the Chamonix Valley, France. Photo by AFP Yonhap News.

Fatal accidents caused by rockfalls have continued as well. Last month, two Czech climbers died from a rockfall on the most popular route at Mont Blanc, and this month another man died in a similar incident. The most heavily used routes to the summit of Mont Blanc have become extremely dangerous, prompting local authorities to close both the Gouter Hut and Tete Rousse Hut, which are used for ascents, on August 11.

Earlier, on the 12th, around 15,000 cubic meters of rock broke off from the north face of Aiguille du Midi at Mont Blanc. A representative from the Chamonix mountain guide company reported that "rockfalls exceeding 100 cubic meters are happening at least ten times a day."

Recently, in the Swiss Alps, two climbers who had been missing for 34 years were found as glaciers melted due to the heatwave. The Alpine glaciers have been melting at an extraordinary rate since the late spring heat. According to Swiss glacier monitoring network GLAMOS, June 29 of this year was marked as a "glacier loss day" in Switzerland, the day when all the snow accumulated over winter disappears and the underlying ice starts to erode. This year, due to scant winter snowfall and two heatwaves, the date was recorded as the second earliest since monitoring began, following 2022.

On the 12th (local time), the water level of the Danube River in Novi Sad, Serbia, has lowered, revealing sandbanks. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News Agency

Drought and Heatwaves Across Europe: More Than 10,000 Deaths Recorded

This summer, all across Europe, people are suffering from extreme drought and heatwaves.

According to an analysis of Copernicus, the European Union (EU) climate change monitoring body, conducted by AFP, as of last month, 85% of the total length of Germany's Rhine River, 95% of the UK's Thames River, and two-thirds of the Danube River—which passes through ten European countries—have recorded their lowest water flows since records began. Last month, 95% of mainland France and 99% of Switzerland experienced drought conditions, while droughts in Hungary, Slovenia, and Austria were also the most severe on record for July, according to AFP.

On August 1, Hungary's only nuclear power plant, the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, was completely shut down for the first time in its 44-year history. The rapid drop in the water level of the Danube made it impossible to secure reactor cooling water. Likewise, Romania also completely shut down its Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant, which produces 20% of Romania's electricity, on August 13 due to the historic drought in the Danube River.

Since late June, over 10,000 deaths in Europe have been attributed to the ongoing heatwaves. By country, there have been 5,000 deaths in Germany, 2,000 in France, 1,700 in Belgium, and more than 1,000 in Spain. In western Europe, record-breaking heat exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in June and July prompted school closures, reduced transit operations, and cancellation of outdoor events. The cause of these extreme temperatures is a heat dome effect, where a stagnant high-pressure system over Europe pulls in hot air from North Africa and the Sahara Desert.

There are also forecasts that this year's heatwave could shrink the European Union's (EU) gross domestic product (GDP) by 1%. Dutch bank Triodos recently estimated in a report that economic damage from heatwaves and wildfires in Europe could reach 180 billion euros (about 294.8 trillion won). This is equivalent to roughly 1% of the EU’s GDP, nearly matching the economic growth rate that the EU had initially expected for this year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.